She asked so many questions when all I wanted was answers. But I swallowed my frustration and told her. ‘I guess the best way to describe my childhood would be tumultuous. No brothers or sisters. My parents got divorced when I was nine, but I think they had problems long before that—maybe that’s why they never had any more children. For as long as I can remember they fought a lot. Until I started school and went over to other people’s houses, I think I thought parents who screamed more than talked to each other was normal. I actually remember being happy when they said they were breaking up, but it didn’t really get much better. They still argued—only they did it from different houses and often got me to be the messenger.’

‘And how did all that tension and drama make you feel?’

‘Crap. I just wished I could have a normal, happy home life. They’d be constantly berating each other to me and trying to make me like them better, so I spent as little time with either of them as possible, staying with friends at every opportunity. I was so happy when I was old enough not to have to live with either of them.’

‘And what’s your relationship with your mother and father like now?’

‘It’s functional, but I’m not close to either of them,’ I said, then sighed. ‘But I’m not worried about my relationship with them, it’s the one with my husband that I want to fix.’

‘I understand that, but the relationships we witness as children have a massive effect on those we have as adults.’

Well, duh. I didn’t need to be a psychologist to work that out. ‘I get that, but I’d really rather focus on me and Adrian right now.’

Megan twisted the pen she was holding between her fingers. ‘Okay then, let’s look at the end goal—what do you want to happen with you and Adrian, moving forward?’

Finally, a question I could easily answer. ‘I want to get back together and give our children the happy, secure family home they deserve.’

‘What about what you deserve?’

‘I deserve to have my husband back!’

Megan linked her fingers and placed her hands in her lap. ‘In that case, how do you plan on working towards that goal?’

Tired of her never-ending questions—if this was all it took to be a marriage therapist, maybe I could be one—I threw my hands up in the air. ‘I don’t know. Adrian will barely talk to me at the moment, that’s why I’m here. I want to fix my marriage and I need you to tell me how to do that!’