Elizabeth Harper was moderately impressed with the outside to Frances' clinic, though to some extent she was still rather puzzled by why Jenny needed to see a therapist. It was true that her father had put a lot of pressure on her, pressure that to Elizabeth now seemed to feel was far too excessive to be able to justify, but at the same time Jenny had also seemed far stronger than Elizabeth had ever been. In this, there was the sense that Jenny could handle the things that James Harper Senior had put on the Harper family. However, her curiosity would have to wait Harry brought the car to a stop and soon got out and held the door open for Elizabeth.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said politely as she stood up and then stepped back to allow Harry to shut the door.
Harry nodded and walked along to the front of the car where he met up again with Jenny. Harry took Jenny's arm and made their way to the door to the clinic with James Jr. and Elizabeth following quietly behind them. They entered into the clinic's waiting room, and Elizabeth looked around to see Jenny approach a lone desk toward the front of the entry room. The front desk was manned by Hispanic male with a modestly trimmed mustache, though for the moment, Elizabeth didn't say anything.
"Hello, Rudy," Jenny said slowly, "I'm here for my final session with Doctor Twist... and I've brought some extras..."
Rudy looked up to see James Jr. and Elizabeth standing behind Harry and Jenny and then nodded slowly. He then moved his hand to a small intercom that would allow him to talk directly to Frances.
"Your nine-fifteen his here, Mrs. Twist," Rudy reported, "her party is larger than expected... but she is here."
"Okay, I'll be out in a moment," Frances was heard to answer over the intercom.
"What was that about?" Elizabeth spoke up, "that the party is larger than expected?"
"Normally it's only been Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, here," Rudy answered politely, though he did give a small gulp, "so we didn't expect more than just Jennifer and Harold Jenkins... And unless Mrs. Jenkins okays it, I will have to ask that you and your gentleman..."
"This is my mom and my older brother," Jenny said to Rudy, "and I'm actually okay with them coming with me."
Rudy then nodded, "Well, Doctor Twist will be out in a moment."
They nodded and slowly ushered Elizabeth and James Jr. to the couches and chairs that were set up in the waiting area. Jenny knew that inviting her mother and older brother in would be rather atypical and would be potentially difficult, as her therapy sessions were more to make sure that she had fully recovered from her lengthy period of being incomplete with regard to her entrance into were society. Dealing with the issues that related to her father and Dieter Wilhelm was more something that was probably at least in part a test to see how stable Jenny was. If her lengthy incomplete period was enough to show that her mind was breaking down, she wouldn't have been able to focus on it as much as she had.
However, Jenny had kept her focus, which she felt was a good sign. However, Elizabeth Harper was unaware of weres or that Jenny was one. Her brother was aware, but then, Jenny had also had enough confidence in James Junior's own independence and the memories of the times that her older brother had actually tried to deflect punishment on Jenny or her younger siblings onto him, to trust that he wouldn't freak out completely and cause trouble. Jenny knew that the fact that her mother didn't know about weres would mean that they would have to run with the sessions being more about the stress that her father had put on the Harper family, which was a problem in its own way, but Jenny had other reasons for wanting her mother there. That was mostly to see if Frances could explain the near one hundred eighty degree personality change that her mother had went through the previous night at dinner.
They moved and sat down quietly. Jenny steadied herself against Harry, hoping that her decision wouldn't lead to a colossal fight that would cause more trouble. For the most part, Elizabeth contented herself to looking through some of the magazines that were on the small table in front of the couch. Elizabeth eventually selected a gardening magazine and flipped through the pages quickly until the sound of a door opening brought her to full alert. She turned to see a lone woman fairly formally dressed come out and approach them.
"Hello, Jenny, how are you doing?" Frances asked as she approached, noting some of the awe and surprise on Elizabeth Harper, but didn't say anything on that.
"I am doing great... I have Harry and I personally feel free," Jenny spoke and then moved to introduce her mother and older brother, "this is my mother, Elizabeth and my older brother, James Junior."
James stood up to shake Frances' hand, which she took slowly and spoke carefully, "I'm sorry for any pressure that my father or Dieter Wilhelm put on your town... Especially since it wouldn't surprise me if they were the "reason" for why Jenny has come here."
Frances slowly blinked. By the way James Jr. said the word reason seemed to give some indication that he was aware of Moon Lake's secrets and was offering her the very "cover" that she often did use when dealing with cases like this in the past with potentially difficult persons from outside Moon Lake. The young man had put a specific emphasis on the word reason that Frances could clearly notice. She glanced over to Jenny who gave a small nod. Frances ultimately accepted that, guessing that Jenny had enough trust in him, which made some sense given what references Jenny had made to her siblings during earlier sessions. Though the big thing was that if James Junior was using the cover for why Jenny had the therapy sessions, that would also mean that the woman there didn't know about weres.
"It is okay," Frances said to him, "there are many people in this world that are by nature... difficult. The best we can do is be strong."
Frances then turned to the older woman who was actually rising from her seat and set a magazine down on the chair she'd been in before Jenny said anything to introduce her.
"And this is my mother Elizabeth," Jenny said, "Who's been just as tormented by things my dad has done as any of us... if not more so."
"I never knew how much pressure James Sr. put on Jennifer," Elizabeth said as she shook Frances' hand, "or on me..."
Frances noted an apologetic and to a degree pained tone in Elizabeth's voice. She took that as a clear indicator of stress and Frances could believe that. Her brief meeting with James Sr. in the hospital the previous day had been enough to tell Frances that the man had no real human emotion in the way normal people had emotions. She could believe that such a personality would be enough to stress anyone, and it was probably a minor miracle that Jenny had turned to be as good of a person as she had.
"I was kinda hoping you could talk with everyone for a bit, even if it's unofficial for some," Jenny spoke, "as dad wasn't exactly an easy man to get along with..."
"That's putting it mildly," Frances thought to herself before saying aloud, "I am more than willing to help... but you must remember that help is only possible if all parties involved are willing and WANT to change."
"If it helps Jenny, I'm willing to sit through the session," Elizabeth slowly offered.
That surprised Frances a bit, but she did keep her composure and then nodded and took a step back before saying, "then if you'll come with me... we can get started."