Growing Up Brady and Johnson

Part 2

Kayla Brady Johnson awoke to an empty bed,and an equally quiet house. She peered at the alarm clock,and noticed that the alarm had been turned off. She figured her husband Steve had to have done that. She and Steve had only been married for a few short weeks now, but he was always doing little things like turning her alarm off when it was Kayla's day off. Kayla and Steve had just gotten home from their honeymoon. They had one last weekend together to enjoy one another before they had to go back to their working lives. Kayla was the head nurse at the Riverfront Clinic, while Steve was a private investigator. Kayla was anxious to return to work. It had been a crazy summer. Earlier in the spring, she had been in an accident, causing her to lose her hearing. That had been a whirlwind time. She had to adapt to being deaf,and learning sign language. Steve had even taken it upon himself to also learn sign language, so that they could continue to communicate. Kayla had been determined not to let her deafness stop her from marrying Steve, or living a normal life. Just as Kayla was getting used to her new life, living with her hearing impairment, she had learned of a surgery that could restore her hearing. Kayla's good friend, Dr. Mike Horton encouraged her to have the surgery. Steve had stood by Kayla, signing to her over and over again, that he would love her no matter if she were to have the surgery or not. Kayla had decided to have the surgery. Two weeks before she married Steve, Kayla had surgery to restore her hearing. The surgery worked, and Kayla's hearing had been restored just in time for her wedding to Steve. On her wedding day, she was able to walk down the aisle,and say, "I do," to her husband. Hearing herself speak those words was one of the best feelings that Kayla had ever had. Now that she had her hearing back though, Kayla had promised herself that she was going to do something with that experience of sign language,and make it count. She didn't want to lose the ability to sign even though that she could now hear and speak normally.
After her wedding to Steve, they had honeymooned for two weeks in the Orient. It had been a romantic couple of weeks, but now they were back in Salem. Their lives as newlyweds had to return back to their normal lives, with family and work responsibilities. Kayla was anxious to return to work at the clinic. Throughout her deafness, she had found it hard to return to work. Now that she had her hearing back, she was anxious to get back to work, and caring for the sick and injured of Salem. Kayla got up,and took a shower. When she got out of the shower, she was greeted with the aroma of coffee,and breakfast being made in the kitchen. She smiled to herself as she got dressed,and headed downstairs. She walked into the kitchen.
"Morning Sweetness," Steve greeted Kayla.
"Morning," Kayla said as she walked over to Steve. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "What's all this?"
"Breakfast," Steve said. "We need a little something to start our day out right. I know it's not what we've been used to for these past few weeks, but hey, we gotta get back to normal."
Kayla grinned as she looked at the breakfast spread that Steve had prepared. "As much as I loved our delectable breakfasts while in the Orient, I'm definitely in the mood for normal."
"Me too, baby. Me too." Steve said.
They sat down to eat a breakfast of coffee, juice, toast, yogurt,and an assortment of berries.
"What's the plan for today?" Steve asked as he began to clear the breakfast dishes.
"I want to go run some errands. Get some things for the clinic,and patients," Kayla said.
"Alright," Steve said. "I need to check in with my office,and make sure things are fine. Why don't we meet up at your parents pub for lunch."
"Perfect," Kayla said. "We can take the gifts for the kids over when we go for lunch."
"I already have them in my car," Steve said.
"You're always one step in front of me," Kayla said.
"I try," Steve said.
They kissed one another,and then parted ways.
Kayla spent the rest of the morning getting supplies for the clinic. She always liked to have a variety of products for the patients that she saw. She bought a variety of necessities from feminine products to personal hygiene products, such as razors, shampoo,and deodorant. The people whom she cared for at the clinic came from all walks of life, and some people, even children had very little. Kayla liked to help in anyway that she could. Once she was finished with her shopping, she took everything to the clinic. She opened the back door for the employees, and set her bags in the lounge area. "Hello," Kayla called, as she shut the door behind her.
"There's the blushing new bride," Robin Jacobs greeted. Robin was one of the doctor's at the clinic, along with Dr. Mike Horton.
"Hey," Kayla said. "What have I missed?"
"Not much," Robin said lightly. "Mike and I have been holding down the fort. I can say though, there's gonna be some patients who are going to be happy that you're back to work."
"That makes two of us," Kayla said. She began to put everything away that she had bought.
"So," Robin exclaimed. "How about those honeymoon pictures.
Kayla blushed. She sat on the lounge couch,and took pictures out of her purse. "I thought you'd never ask."
Robin giggled,and sat down beside her. The women began to look at Kayla's pictures,and Kayla told Robin about her honeymoon.
"I'm so glad you and Steve had a wonderful time," Robin gushed. "You both deserve it after what you both went through."
"Yeah, we did," Kayla agreed. "But I'm better now. My hearing and speech is all back to normal, and I'm ready to go back to work."
"Well, we're ready to have you back," Robin said.
"I was thinking," Kayla said. "With me knowing sign language now, I want to incorporate that into work whenever I can."
"I think that would be great," Robin said. "If a patient comes to us and they're deaf, you can be their interpreter as well as their nurse."
Kayla nodded. "I just think there's no need for us to turn anyone away if they have a hearing impairment, if the clinic is more financially sound for them for treatment verses the hospital."
Robin nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get it. I like your thinking."
"Great. Thanks."
Robin grinned. "Hey, get out of here. You're not supposed to start back to work till next Monday."
Kayla laughed lightly. "Okay. I'm going to go meet Steve for lunch. I'll see you next Monday."
Kayla left the clinic,and went to the Brady Pub to meet Steve for lunch. Kayla's parents, Shawn and Caroline owned the Brady Pub. It was a quaint family restaurant that had the best clam chowder in town. Before Kayla was a nurse, she would work at the pub. She sometimes would help her parents out on the weekends if she wasn't working, and work a lunch or a dinner shift. Kayla always found the pub a comforting place to be. Her parents made it feel like home to all their customers, from those who they saw everyday to those who came in once in a while for a bowl of chowder.
Steve arrived a few minutes after Kayla. They talked about their mornings as they each ate a bowl of clam chowder, and their respected sides. A cobb salad for Kayla,and a burger for Steve. Before leaving the pub, Steve and Kayla left the presents they had gotten for the kids with Caroline. Roman was bringing Carrie, Eric,and Sami over that night for dinner. Kayla and Steve would be joining them, along with Kimberly and Shane. Tonight's dinner would be a celebration of first and new beginnings. New school year for the children,and the beginning of Kayla and Steve's married life together. The Brady family always loved to celebrate,and looked for any excuse to do so.