The Violinist at The Summit

Chapter 30

Frank walked into the hospital room and sat down on the edge of Susie's bed. Gracie was in her arms.

"Hi, Suz," he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi, Frank." They sat quietly for a moment. "Frank, there's something I have to tell you."

Frank's eyes welled with tears, "Dean told me."

"Are you mad?"

"No, I just don't know how to make you understand that I'm on the same team as you. I'm here for you, Susie. You don't have to be afraid of me."

"I just didn't want you to get hurt. You're so in love with her... I just... I don't know. I'm sorry... I can barely wrap my own head around it... I'm scared for the future."

"I know. Me too. But I'm here for you. Let's be scared together."

There was another long silence.

Finally, Frank spoke, "There's something that I'd like to ask you. I know I said that I would wait awhile, but I love you, Susie. I know that you've been let down before, but that isn't the case with me. I'd like to show you that... Would you marry me?"

"Oh, Francis..." Susie began to cry.

"Is that a yes?" he asked with tears in his own eyes.

She nodded and pulled his face toward hers so she could kiss him. Gracie cooed and they both giggled.

A few weeks later, they were settling into life at home with Gracie. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the whole family, including the Martins and Davises, would come over for their ASL lessons. Back east, Susie's parents were taking classes too, paid for by Frank. As one could imagine, young Tina was the best at signing so far, and Dean was the laughably the worst.

Though despite his act of being the worst, Susie began to realize that he was actually quite good. She caught him intentionally mixing up words to make her laugh. He always sat next to her at the lessons too. He knew how much she worried, and so while learning, he tried to make Susie laugh a little.

"Mr. Martin!" the teacher shrieked.

"Huh? Who me?" Dean feigned shock. Sammy and Frank began to laugh and heckle him.

"What'd you do now, Drunky?" Frank laughed.

"You ain't any good at your other two languages; might as well louse up this one too!" Sammy teased.

"You realize you just signed 'up yours' instead of 'upstairs?'" the teacher said, trying to bring everyone back to her lesson

"What can I say I'm a quick study!"

Jeanne smacked his arm, "Dean!"

Susie laughed.

Dean glanced out of the corner of his eye and smiled at Susie's laugh. He made sure to sign "up yours" again to both Frank and Sammy. "Listen, I'll be the one teaching Gracie all the useful signs like for when someone cuts you off in traffic or needs put in their place."

"Dad!" Gail Martin shook her head and laughed, both embarrassed and entertained by her father.

"Oh, Dean, you know how to keep us all on our toes," Nancy Sr. chuckled. Susie and Nancy had developed a great bond, and Nancy had been incredibly supportive of getting everyone involved in the ASL classes. She was especially insistent on making sure Nancy Jr., Frankie, and Tina were there. Before the classes began, Nancy Sr. and Susie shared a heart-to-heart conversation about motherhood, and Susie told her that it would mean a lot to her if Nancy attended the classes too. After all, they were going to be a blended family and Susie wanted Gracie to know that Nancy Sr. was another person who cared about her.

Everyone else was doing well with learning the signing. Frank was doing especially well with it and began to put signs to words in his songs as he learned them. The signing classes were two fold for Frank: it was an opportunity to gain motion back in his one hand and arm while also learning a valuable skill to parent Gracie.

After the instructor left for the evening, the whole gang indulged in dessert. The women in the families took turns making various desserts for them all to share. Despite the fear and uncertainty that Frank and Susie had about their daughter's future, they couldn't help but feel comforted by the village of support that surrounded them.

Susie was in the kitchen making another pot of coffee when Dean walked in, "Where the hell can a guy get a cup of coffee around here?"

Susie laughed at him, "Patience is a virtue."

He laughed. She poured him another cup of coffee, and he took a sip, "I told Frank you make a damn good cup of coffee, better keep her around."

"You're terrible!" she giggled.

"Hey, I wanted to run something past you. The Sands wants us to do a show over in March, about two months from now. Should I ask Frank?"

"I mean, I don't think he'd be opposed. His mobility is getting better every day. I think pretty soon he'll be without the cane most of the time. You should mention it. If you three do it, I'd like to take Gracie."

"He's wonderful with her isn't he?"

"He is... I love him more now than I ever realized I could."

Dean and Susie headed back into the main room and went over to Frank who was now holding Gracie.

Susie sat down next to him and kissed his cheek. "What's that for?" he smiled.

"Nothing at all."

"Hey, Pally" Dean said, "I wanted to run something by you. How would you feel about doing a show in March at the Sands."

"Would my favorite violinist be invited?" he asked cheekily.

"Yes, but she already has a plus one," Dean looked at Gracie.

"Do you want to do this?" Frank asked Susie.

"I would love nothing more."

"Then sign us up!"