Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

6. Brendon

I was livid. How dare that server treat Callie like she was an imbecile. Callie was clearly very smart. She was funny and she'd already taught us a bunch of signs. We had just wanted to celebrate being a family and that stupid server ruined it for us.

I took Callie around the shoulders and led her out of the restaurant. She kept her head down the whole way out to the car and climbed into the back seat. Her gorgeous smile was gone and she looked like she was trying not to cry.

Sarah texted her on the way home, and I could hear her phone vibrate, but Callie wasn't looking at her texts. She was looking down at her lap.

When we got home, I went into the kitchen to get out some of the takeout menus we kept there. Sarah brought the bags from Hot Topic inside and Callie disappeared.

"Where'd Callie go?" She asked me.

"Not sure. Upstairs maybe?"

"She looked so upset when we left the restaurant," Sarah said.

"Yeah. She looked like she was trying not to cry. Poor kid. That stupid server just ruined our first dinner as a family," I frowned. "Think maybe she likes Chinese food?"

"I have no idea. Let's go ask her. I have to bring her these bags anyway. So she can put her new stuff away."

I nodded and we went upstairs together. Bogart and Penny followed. I had the takeout menu in my hand.

We knocked on Callie's door, then realized she wouldn't hear that. We'd have to figure out how to do something so she'd know someone was knocking.

Sarah opened the door and stopped. I poked my head into the room Callie was crying and shoving her things back into the trash bags she'd been given to pack. Sarah ran in and wrapped Callie in a hug. She picked up Callie's notebook and wrote:

'What are you doing?'

Callie took the notebook and wrote:

'Packing. Now that you see how hard the deaf kid is, I understand if you want to take me back.'

That hit me like an arrow in the heart. I pulled Callie into a hug and held her close. Sarah was writing furiously on the page. She tapped Callie on the shoulder. Callie turned around to read what she wrote.

'Callie, we're not taking you back. One stupid server in one restaurant isn't a reason to get rid of someone. Brendon and I love you. We chose to adopt you. We're not getting rid of you ever. You can't get rid of us that easily. We'll learn to navigate your world, too.'

Callie let go of me and hugged Sarah. Her back was heaving with sobs as she cried on Sarah's shoulder. Sarah rubbed her back and looked at me with a look that said 'I'm sad for her, but I love her so much'. I sat on Callie's bed and put my arm around my wife and daughter. We were going to learn that life isn't always easy for kids like Callie. But we were going to do what we could to help it be a bit less difficult.

When Callie finished crying, she looked up at Sarah and I. I pulled her notebook over and wrote.

'Do you like Chinese food? We can order in and we can get whatever you want.'

Callie nodded and I showed her the menu. She scanned it and I wrote that she could get whatever she wanted. She pointed to General Tso chicken and at the peppers beside it. There were 3 and she pointed and put up 3 fingers and a thumbs up. I smiled. She liked spicy food.

She also pointed at wonton soup and an egg roll. I gave her a thumbs up and Sarah and I added what we wanted and I called the restaurant.

'Should we go downstairs and wait?' I wrote. Callie looked around her room with her clothes shoved into a trash bag. She pointed at it and her dresser and I understood she meant she wanted to unpack again and I nodded.

'We'll help,' I wrote.

We helped her put her clothes away and then put her new clothes and her jeans that had milk spilled on them, into a hamper. Then, the three of us went downstairs.

We sat on the sofa and I texted Callie.

'So, we knocked on your door when we came upstairs and realized you're not going to hear that. How do we make sure you can be alerted by things like that? Or wake you up in the morning for school, which we'll have to also figure out.'

'There are a bunch of things you can get. There's an alarm clock with a vibrating pod that goes under the mattress. You can also get smoke detectors that have flashing lights. Same with doorbells. There are also door knock alert systems.'

I nodded. We'd have to look into getting those things to keep Callie safe as well as making sure we didn't invade her privacy.

The doorbell rang and I got up to answer it. It was dinner and I realized, if Callie were ever home alone and something happened, unless we got some of those things soon, she'd never know someone was here. I decided that I would be looking into those things tonight to get them installed as soon as possible.

While we were eating dinner, and Callie did try chopsticks, marginally successfully, I texted the band, Zack and Kala and Josh and Pete and invited them for dinner the next night. I only said there was something I wanted to discuss. Let their imaginations run wild.

'Callie,' I texted. 'Do you know Fall Out Boy?'

She looked at her phone and texted back: 'not personally, but I've heard if the band.'

The cheek on this kid! I smiled at her.

'I invited Pete and Patrick tomorrow, too.'

She looked stunned.

During dinner we asked to learn some signs for the food we were eating. Callie taught us 'rice' and 'chicken', 'beef' and 'noodles'.

We were eager to learn, Callie seemed eager to teach us. It made me wonder, how little effort had her foster parents put in?