Silas nodded and bundled the squirmy little pup up into his jacket - positive, she was quiet, although they both doubted that it would last long, it worked for surprising Calla in this moment. Silas slid out of the passenger seat and waited until Sidney came around, taking up his hand as they headed for the front door.
They entered the living room a few seconds later, and a streak of blonde hair was up - squealing and jumping onto Silas' leg "Hi Adda!" she beamed that adorable smile up at her Adda and then scuttled over to Sidney and hugged his leg as well "Hi daddy!" she pointed toward Maria and giggled "Mamia is lettin us color! I drewed you and adda new pishures!" Calla squealed as she grabbed Sidney's hand and tugged him over to the coffee table -- Calla's speech, for whatever reason, was not as strong as what Titan and Theo's had been at the age of two; they had tried everything, as well, to help her with her words but nothing seemed to work - even Maria had tried helping her, but the words still refused to come out right, and they worried that there was something wrong; but they knew they wouldn't have to truly worry about it until Calla was of school age.
Silas moved in behind Sidney and Calla, looking down at the drawings while also superstisously pulling the puppy out from his jacket, "Calla, those are some beautiful drawings!" Although she couldn't speak well, she had far superior drawings skills, capable of both staying in the lines and drawing freehanded as well.
"Those are so pretty, Calla," Sidney said, winking at Maria who pulled her phone out to record Calla's reaction. He hugged her and carefully turned her to face Silas who was holding the puppy in his arms.
Calla's jaw dropped and she stared at the puppy. "Adda? Daddy? Is puppah for me?"
"Yes baby," Sidney said, taking her hand and leading her over. "This is your puppy. Adda picked her out just for you."
Calla turned into a bundle of energy then, climbing up to stand on the couch so she could look closer at the puppy. She reached out a questing hand, touching the puppy's floppy ears and fuzzy sides. "So pwetty."
Silas smiled as he sat down on the couch next to Calla and helped her to sit down as well. He then place the puppy in Calla's lap and brushed his daughter's hair back from her face "And, the best thing, you get to name her all by yourself. But you can always ask me or Daddy for help if you don't know what you wanna name her."
Calla looked at Silas with a very serious expression on her face, tongue poking between her lips and eyebrows scrunching up "I getta name hew?" she asked. Silas nodded and crossed his fingers, hoping they wouldn't be calling their new dog some not-so-pleasant name for the rest of the pups life.
Calla nodded back seriously and tapped her chin as she looked down at the puppy in her lap "I name hew C-C-Chl-chloe..." Calla stuttered how the name and then picked the puppy up and put it in Silas lap again before slipping off the couch and toddling back over to the coffee table and her drawings, humming to herself as she began drawing once again.
Silas looked down at the puppy and then up at Sidney in confusion, one eyebrow raised up slightly in a silent question of 'What the hell just happened?'
Sidney shrugged a little in response, kneeling next to Calla. "Do you like your puppy, sweetheart?"
Calla nodded sagely, drawing a picture. "I make pishure of C-C-Chloe. Adda holes her so I'm draws."
"Oh okay," Sidney said, looking over at Silas who was petting the puppy. "I'm glad you like Chloe. That's a very pretty name you picked out for her."
"Best name," Calla said with a nod, concentrating on her picture. "Go 'way, Daddy."
Sidney got back to his feet and went to sit next to Silas. "Well, I've been told."
Silas chuckled and slid the puppy over into Sidney's lap - which, was apparently the wrong thing to do - Calla screamed, high-pitched and ear-shattering - not only scaring Duke, Jasper, and Chloe, but the rest of the people in the living room as well. Titan and Theo looked wide-eyed at their sister and Titan was at her side within seconds; stomping over his Legos in the process to get there. "It okay Calla!" Titan said as he wrapped Calla up in his stronger than normal arms (at least for a four year old).
Calla sobbed into her brothers chest and rocked back and forth. Silas had no idea what to do except for take the puppy back from Sidney "We... I uh..." Silas bit his bottom lip and looked at Sidney helplessly "I think we need to talk to someone about this... She uh..." Silas didn't know how to describe what he was thinking, he had never been through this before - obviously.
Of course, episodes like this had been happening since Calla was only three months old, or even before then - when things were not correct in her mind, she would get upset and scream. It led to thousands of sleepless nights and tantrums of EPIC proportions - they were even more colossal than Titan's tantrums.
Sidney moved to gather both Titan and Calla in his arms, letting her brother continue to soothe her while he held both of them. She responded very well to Titan and both Sidney and Silas felt bad about letting the 4 year old calm her, but sometimes he was the only one who could.
"Adda hole puppah. Adda hole puppah," Calla sobbed against Titan's shoulder. "Not Daddy."
"Adda is holding Chloe, not me," Sidney promised her. "Just Adda."
Silas slowly moved own to the floor in front of Titan and Calla "See baby, Adda has Chloe right here." Silas said soothingly as he reached out and gently stroked his thumb over Calla's cheek, wiping away the tears there.
Calla sniffled and lifted her head from Titan's shoulder, her sobs slowly turning into hiccups "Adda only hole. No more daddy." She shook her head and snuggled back against her brother's stomach, sniffling and hiccuping.
Silas sighed as he stood up, then carefully pulled Sidney up to his feet, one arm still wrapped around Chloe's small body as he pulled his husband into the kitchen "There is something very seriously wrong with her." he said in Greek, staring at their daughter "What do you think, Sid?"
Sidney rubbed his face and nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but Calla had been just slightly off since she had been born. She had refused a bottle until she was able to drink from a sippy cup. She didn't like certain clothes or foods. And no matter what they did, they couldn't seem to figure out her speech. She had to have things a certain way and they never knew what that way was half the time.
"Okay. I'll call Marc and see what he suggests. I don't even know where to start." Sidney reached out to pet Chloe's soft head. "You should probably take her outside to pee."
Silas nodded and took Chloe outside. Duke eagerly followed behind him and so did Theo. Silas sat down on the back porch and set Chloe out in the grass. Duke followed the little puppy around everywhere Chloe went.
Theo huffed as he sat down next to his father "We told you we didn't want a sister." Theo said as he looked up at Silas, his bottom lip pouted out.
Silas laughed and kissed the top of his son's head "You were excited to have a sister until Titan wasn't... Then you joined forces with him... Now Titan loves your sister, and you still couldn't be bothered, two years later." Silas knew what he said would be too much for his four year old to actually follow, but they all knew the jest of it.
Theo laid his head on Silas' thigh and groaned "I just don't unnerstand her. She loud, and... and she doesn't like certain things... Why did you bring her home?"
Silas shook his head and rubbed Theo's back "Because your daddy and I wanted to keep her, just like we wanted to keep you." Silas said as he glanced over his shoulder - they had already been out here for ten minutes, or so it seemed "What did Marc say?" he asked Sidney when he came out, then turned back to watch Duke sticking his large nose against the puppy's side.
"He'll get us a doctor's appointment for her," said Sidney. He sat down next to Silas and Theo. "Hey, buddy. Things are quiet again inside. Calla is coloring again and Titan is back playing with the Legos."
Theo didn't lift his head, just wrapped his arms around Silas's leg. "Gonna stay here with Adda. Don't want to go back in."
"Okay," Sidney said, leaning against Silas as well. The dogs were playing together, Duke very carefully nudging Chloe around and letting her pretend fight him. Maria had everything under control inside. She was one of Calla's favorite people, a close third behind Silas and Titan.
Silas sighed and kissed the top of Sidney's head lightly "I am sure that everything will be okay... Maybe she is just... naturally more upset..." he hoped that was the case, but somewhere deep down - he knew this was more serious than just being upset over things.
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A Few Days Later:
If Silas thought doctor's offices were bad when it was *just* him and Sidney -- He was wrong. Having Calla in the doctor's office - a doctor that neither of them had been too before - it was... painful to say the least. She was clinging to Silas chest like a monkey, sobbing and screaming. Silas' anxiety was on over drive - there were kids *everywhere* screaming right along with Calla, although that's because they were having fun - Silas and Calla? Not so much.
He knew Sidney was trying to keep them calm, and himself, but it was a frenzy of activity from children under the age of seven. "What the heck did Marc do to us?!" Silas growled, glaring at Sidney since he couldn't glare at Marc.
Sidney gave Silas a sympathetic look. The waiting room was a little much for him and he didn't have the anxiety and sensory issues that Silas and Calla had.
"Maybe it would help if we covered her ears?" Sidney suggested, gently cupping his hands over Calla's ears to try and cut down on some of the noise. She pushed his hands away and tried to climb further into Silas, just wanting her Adda to protect her. Sidney went back to rubbing Silas's back, trying to soothe him and keep him calm since Calla didn't want him right now.
Silas took slow and steady breaths - it didn't help much, but it was doing something to keep himself relatively calm for Calla's sake. He turned her head so one ear was pressed against his chest; near his heart and he used one hand to cover her other ear. This seemed to calm her down almost instantly; the screams turned to just sobs and hiccups.
It was a relief and it helped calm Silas even more, now that their daughter was safe. A nurse in puppy-dog pink scrubs came through a door "Flint family?" she called, searching the room full of people.
Silas and Sidney stood up "That is us." Silas said - it was so hard to miss him, seeing as he was taller than everyone in the room. Sidney grabbed Calla's 'have to take these things with us bag' as they referred it as and they then followed the nurse down the hallway and into an exam room.
"Doctor Todd will be with you in a moment - She is an excellent doctor and will definitely be able to help you out with your daughter." the nurse said with a kind smile before turning to leave the room, pulling the door shut behind her - it definitely helped block out all the noise.
Silas was able to breathe a bit easier now, being away from the noise. Calla had definitely calmed down too and was starting to pull away from Silas' chest "Adda, I wan... wan... kitteh." Calla pointed at her stuffed kitten that was peaking out of the bag on Sidney's arm.
Sidney pulled out her stuffed kitty and handed it over, brushing his hand over her hair. He took out a tissue and gently cleaned her face. They could only use the extra soft tissues on Calla and she still squirmed because they felt rough. "There we go. All cleaned up."
Sidney sat in the chair next to them, Calla happily perched on Silas's lap and playing with her kitty now. He squeezed Silas's hand. "Doing better?"
Silas didn't get a chance to answer before there was a soft knock at the door and a doctor came in. She was young, with a short afro and a wide, soft smile. She was tiny compared to both of them.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Todd. You must be the Flints. Dr. Andrews asked me to see you. And this pretty lady has to be Calla. I like your kitty, Calla."
Calla whimpered and turned her face into Silas' chest, clutching her kitty tightly against her body "Calla, don't you want to say hi to the pretty doctor?" Silas asked quietly, rubbing his daughters back up and down.
Calla shook her head and reached back to push Silas' hand away from her "No!" she shouted into his chest - at least her voice was muffled by the bulk of his muscle and jacket.
Silas sighed and looked up at Dr. Todd "She's not used to new people... It took forever for her to even come around to our closest friends, and they are at our house every weekend it seems."
"That's fine. Change can be tough. For now she can stay right where she is. I will have to examine her later but maybe by then she'll warm up to me a bit." Dr. Todd sat down across from them, a notepad on her lap. "Dr. Andrews didn't have much detail; just that she's an otherwise healthy two year old who has some behavioral issues that are concerning you?"
Sidney nodded and reached for Silas's free hand. "She has always been fussy and picky. She wouldn't take a bottle at all for example so she only nursed until she drank from a sippy cup. She doesn't like loud noises. She's very particular about how her clothes feel. Her food too. And her speech is a little delayed."
He looked at Silas for him to add more.
Silas sighed and looked down at Calla, "She only wants to be comforted by me or her older brother, Titan... She uh... she doesn't like it, all that much really, when Sidney, Theo - that's our other son - and Maria - our nanny, touches her... she freaks out, very big time." He rubbed his thumb across the back of Sidney's hand "She only has a handful of toys that she will play with and we have to take them everywhere or she will have a meltdown, a very serious one."
Silas didn't know what else to add, really, it was hard... talking about their daughter to a complete stranger, especially with Calla right there in the room, listening to everything they were saying.
Calla was mostly content to just listen to her Adda speaking, his voice rumbling in his chest and against her ear. She had went back to playing with her Kitty, singing brokenly to the stuffed animal.
"She likes us," Sidney said. "She absolutely adores Maria. She just doesn't want the touching. Things need to be a certain way, but we don't know what that is until it's been messed up. There are certain things we know about and don't change those things."
Dr. Todd nodded. "Is there any family history of behavioral disorders or sensory processing issues? Anyone on the autism spectrum?"
Sidney pressed his lips together and looked at Silas. "He has some sensory issues - crowds, noises. Anxiety. No one on the spectrum. The twins - her older brothers - seem fine. Titan has sleeping issues but otherwise is fine."
Silas frowned a bit but nodded his head in agreement "He is right... I do have a lot of anxiety problems. I am not comfortable around a lot of people, or new people... Loud noises set me off. I..." he shrugged a bit and looked down at Calla "I am like her, in a way I suppose, I prefer things to be done in a certain way, and I do not like change much..."
Silas looked at Sidney, his eyes filling with tears "I did this? I gave her my problems, didn't I?" he asked quietly, quickly filling with guilt that somehow he had caused their daughter's pain and suffering.
"Baby, no," Sidney said immediately, cupping his face. "I don't think that at all. These are her challenges and those are yours. They might be similar but that doesn't mean they came from you."
Dr. Evan's cleared her throat slightly. "Could you tell me about Calla's birth? Were there any complications?"
"Yes," Sidney said softly, his own guilt churning up now. "She was born at 33 weeks and aspirated meconium. She was in the NICU for a week total."
"And how would you describe her as a baby?"
"Fussy, cried a lot, didn't like being held by anyone but myself and Silas really. She got better around six months. We equated it with eating solid foods and not being so hungry all the time. She nursed constantly it felt like until she started to eat."