Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

65. Sarah

Callie seemed fine after the incident in the mall. She didn't have a concussion. She said her head didn't hurt and when we watched TV together, she said it didn't bother her at all.

We kept an eye on her for the afternoon, and she seemed fine. Her behaviour didn't change and she didn't seem exceptionally tired or in pain. We iced her elbow for a while and she was fine.

Brendon and I both spent that afternoon basically snuggling Callie. Neither of us wanted her out of our sight.

I think we got to be a bit too much for her, because eventually she asked us to give her a little space. We laughed. She was just too adorable.

We spent the rest of her summer break between me taking her out to get a few more things for school and checking on the school's website to make sure we had everything ready for her first day.

The weekend before school started, the school had a "get to know you" barbecue where we were able to meet some of the parents and Callie's new classmates. She was shy and reserved. She'd never been in a school meant to accommodate her needs. I watched her with the kids in the school and it was like the whole world had just opened up for her.

She met a few of her teachers, too and she was just in awe that not only would her classmates understand her, so would her teachers.

The smile on her face as we left the barbecue was priceless. She had phone numbers from her classmates so they could text before school started, and she was so excited we had to remind her to slow down just a little. We had worked very hard at learning sign language and we were pretty quick now, too, but we were still learning, still taking lessons, so we needed our very excited 12-year-old to slow down just a bit. She laughed.

"I'm so glad you're excited about starting school," I smiled at Callie as we got dinner ready. We were eating light since we'd had a big lunch at the school. We just had some salad and soup and sandwiches.

We sat outside by the pool, just enjoying the evening. After we cleaned up from dinner, we walked the dogs, and then the three of us sat down and watched a movie. Callie was vocalizing along with the music, which was sweet since she may not even realize she was making any noise. Brendon and I smiled at each other.

After the movie, we told Callie it was time for her to get to bed, so we could start getting organized for school and get used to getting up earlier.

"That's the worst part about starting school," Callie said.

"What is?" I asked.

"Having to wake up earlier in the morning than on summer break," she grinned.

"You're too funny," I said, hugging her and smiling at her. I walked her upstairs, and she went into her room and closed the door to get changed. I waited a little while and then knocked on her door when I heard the water turn off in her bathroom. She opened the door and smiled up at me.

"Ready for bed?" I asked. She nodded. I walked into the room with her, she hopped up into her bed, and I covered her with the blankets.

"Are you excited about starting at Merton?" I asked.

"Dad and I want you to have the best we can give you. You deserve it," I smiled at her.

She looked away and shook her head. I made her look at me.

"Callie, you do. You deserve a proper education. You deserve good things."

She leaned forward and hugged me. I hugged her back. Brendon came in just then.

"What's going on?" He asked playfully.

"I never knew schools like that existed!" she said excitedly. "I mean before we went to look at it."

We spent the last weekend of the summer at the beach, just relaxing and enjoying the freedom of not having to adhere to a schedule.

Brendon was working on an album, so once Callie was in school, he was going to be locking himself away for hours.

Callie was nervous her first day, but we reminded her she'd already met some of her classmates. She nodded but said she was still nervous.

She'd been texting with a couple of the girls and one or two boys she'd met. They'd agreed to meet at the flagpole in front of the school.

What we weren't expecting was press. They'd found out that we'd enrolled Callie at Merton and had shown up on her first day. She refused to get out of the car at first.

The principal and a school security guard came out when they realized we'd arrived.

"Callie, welcome to Merton!" The principal said. "This is Grant. He's one of our security guards. He's going to help you get into school safely. And we're working on getting a restraining order on the press."

Callie nodded and I thanked the principal. They'd been able to put up some barriers but the press was much closer than I'd have liked.

Brendon got out of the car with Callie, gave her a hug and told her to have a good day.

"Mom's going to pick you up, okay?"

Callie nodded, glancing at the press and over where her classmates were watching in confusion. The security guard and principal walked her into the school and we stayed to watch her go in. Her friends jumped off the flagpole and followed her in, their hands flying.

Once Callie was out of sight in the school, we left.

"Is she going to be okay, do you think?" I asked Brendon.

"I'm really glad we chose this school. I feel like they'll be able to protect her as well as challenge her intellectually," he said. "And I'm going to make some calls about the press at the school. See what we can do to help with that."

I smiled. Callie was in good hands, things were starting to come together in every aspect.