“Dom…I’m serious. And you don’t have to go. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us? I’m sure Sasha would love to have you around a little more. She misses you, ya know?”
The mischievous smile Dmitri was so used to seeing on Dominic’s face appeared once more, “Am I stealing your girl’s heart?” The only response he received at his teasing was a roll of his brother’s eyes.
“That’ll never happen and you know it.”
“A man can dream,” he laughed before sobering with, “But seriously…Sasha is truly an amazing woman and I’m happy for you both. Thanks for hearing me out. Being here always reminds me what love should look like.”
“And you’ll find it, man.”
After their heart-to-heart, Dominic felt the heavy weight on his shoulders lighten a little bit. His decision to stay ended up being made for him by the look of determination on Sasha’s face when he neared the front door.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she cried out, pulling on his arm and directing him back to the living room with everyone else. “You’ve disappeared for way too long. Stay with us. I even got Slade to agree to stay.”
The tall Asian man made a face at that. “More like forced.”
“Oh, don’t be such a party-pooper! At least I’m feeding you,” Sasha pouted.
Dmitri, knowing how unpredictable her emotions could be, coddled her with a warm smile and caresses on her back. “And we are so grateful for that. Aren’t we?” he gave them a pointed stare.
Both men nodded their head overenthusiastically. But it was enough. A genuine, wide smile broke across Sasha’s features as she returned to the kitchen excited to have new people try her recipes. Knowing the disaster that would eventually ensue with the food she prepared, Dmitri secretly called for delivery. It would arrive just as they would be forced to sit down and eat her inedible creations. He had to hand it to his wife, however. She never stopped trying.
As they heard Sasha humming in the background, Slade and Dominic’s gazes awkwardly met. But it was once his eyes met the other man that it dawned on him.
“Holy shit!” he couldn’t help but to exclaim.
~~~~
Adaline walked through the Boston Common with Lucille, thoroughly enjoying all the sights, performances, and eateries. It was bustling with people and Adaline couldn’t help but be seduced by the warm weather and excitement. Lucille, a beautiful Asian American in her late twenties, was one of the reasons Horace Mann had come to be so enjoyable. They had immediately formed a bond that Adaline had never had with someone of the same disability. Lucille had been born severely hard of hearing as well but, unlike Adaline, her parents had been unable to afford the surgery for an implant. And even when she did have the opportunity, Lucille revealed that she preferred her life the way it was. It was a pride and acceptance of self that Adaline had grown to greatly admire about her new friend. It reminded her of the way her parents had raised her- her lack of hearing made her see the world in a different way and that was something to embrace and cherish. Turning to her newfound friend, she signed,
“So this is the place you usually go running?”
Lucille nodded, “It’s less crowded early in the morning and so relaxing!”
Self-consciously, Adaline looked from her own body to the slim woman beside her. Yup, Lucille’s routine definitely showed through and Adaline couldn’t help but envy how well it did. While not big by any means, she was aware of her size. With thick hips and a not-so-tiny waist, Adaline was by no means a model. It had never been something that occupied her thoughts much. But, like any woman, she had her moments of insecurity. Like now. She couldn’t help but think of the women she was sure Dominic had dated and even the woman he was still heartbrokenly in love with. While it hurt to think that maybe she couldn’t compare, she tried not to think of who had been in his arms before. Now, after not being in contact with him for some time, she grew more determined than ever to eventually show him what they could have together. But first, she had to at least see him again.
“Maybe I should join you one day…I think I could stand to lose a few pounds.”
Lucille seemed very excited by the idea and was nothing but encouraging. It was something Adaline had grown to really enjoy about Lucille’s company. There was such a positive energy surrounding her; it was infectious and increased Adaline’s mood tenfold no matter where it had been by default.
They continued to walk through the park, stopping as they crossed the bridge to enjoy an older gentleman playing an unusual instrument. A small dog was lying down at his feet, slumbering peacefully and blissfully unaware of the crowd of people surrounding him. Without hesitation, Lucille and Adaline both dug into their purses to place cash in the nearly empty can. With warm smiles, they continued on their way until Adaline noticed Lucille was leading her to a group of individuals in the middle of the park. Confused, she didn’t say anything until she found that they were standing in front of the group. It was then she noticed that they were all signing.
With a raised brow, she turned to her friend but before Lucille could say anything they were interrupted by the presence of a tall young man. Relatively thin and gangly, he reached over after gathering Lucille’s attention to give her a warm hug. With ruffled dark brown hair and a set of piercing blue eyes, Adaline could admit objectively that the man was quite attractive even though she tended to prefer men less on the thin side.
The man signed to Lucille how long it had been since they had seen one another before his eyes settled on the strange woman standing next to Lucille. With a sheepish grin,
“I’m sorry. That was rude of me. I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”
Adaline simply shrugged, waiting for Lucille to make introductions.
“This is Adaline. She is a new teacher. And Adaline this is my friend Murphy.”
They shook hands in greeting, exchanging pleasantries. Lucille went on, “I didn’t mean to interrupt your class Murphy. I just saw you and wanted to come over and say hello.”
“It’s no problem, Lucille. I have them partnered up to practice.” Murphy turned a sly smile in Adaline’s direction. “I volunteer and teach sign language courses to parents who have deaf children on the weekends. And I would love to have some extra help if you guys are free. They’ve been stuck in classrooms for the most part but I thought with such great weather, it would be great to have our class in the park. The children seem to be enjoying it.”
Needless to say, Adaline was impressed to find that he volunteered his time to such an important cause. She could definitely relate to all the deaf children who were unable to communicate with their parents because of the language barrier. Even working at the school, she was always shocked to find that some parents took no interest in learning for the sake of their children. It was quite a lonely experience for those students at home, and she was at least grateful there were after-school programs to continue the social and personal development they were missing at home. For their part, teachers and administrators strongly encouraged parents to learn ASL along with their children. But some apparently would never understand. It truly baffled Adaline; how could you not want to communicate with your kid in the way they felt most comfortable?
“That’s so amazing, Murphy!” she exclaimed. “We would love to help, wouldn’t we, Lucille?”
Lucille nodded in affirmation. And so they joined Murphy as he regained the parents’ attention after they tried for several minutes to have a conversation completely in ASL. Introducing both Lucille and Adaline, he used slow and precise gestures so that they would understand his directions for the next activity. While most parents were accompanied by their children, some were by themselves practicing the language. Adaline watched with a smile on her face as the young ones sometimes interrupted to correct their parents.
After the session had ended and Murphy was in the process of saying goodbye to all the parents and their kids, Adaline was once again impressed by his dedication to the cause. Even while us
ing simple ASL for their understanding, he personalized every farewell with his students, encouraging them to continue their studies and noting their progress. When everyone was on their way, he turned to both her and Lucille with a wide grin, his blue eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight.
“Thank you guys so much for that! I always like introducing parents to more people in the ASL community.”
The three of them ended up making their way out of the park and to a nearby restaurant. Despite the fact that they were sitting in a public place, Adaline felt that she was where she belonged and with it, there was a wave of euphoria. She was cementing a promising friendship with Lucille and the potential for a new one with Murphy, a young man she found fascinating in his dedication to service work for the ASL community. She couldn’t help but think of how things had been so drastically different only weeks before. And, as if resurfaced by her thoughts, she felt her phone vibrate gently in her purse. Excusing herself, she looked down to see her Uncle’s icon appear on her phone.
Unfortunately, he was the only one in her family who continued to make an attempt to contact her. That didn’t surprise Adaline at all. She never expected a phone call or text from Carla as they were not friends and cared little for each other as cousins. And her relationship with her aunt had always been tremulous as well. Though there had been moments she discovered the more maternal side of Victoria, those times had usually been far and few between. In fact, Victoria still seemed upset about her move, continually instilling within her a fear of failure.
“Uncle!” she greeted with excitedly.
“Adaline, I just wanted to check on you. How are things? How’s work?”
She laughed at the look of stark curiosity on his face on the small screen of the phone. In their conversations, he was always interested in how she was using her experiences of acclimating to the cochlear implant in helping her students. She spent the next few minutes catching him up. It pleased her to know that the distance between them had actually brought them closer instead of farther apart.
When Adaline finally returned to the table, she found Murphy staring at her, his eyes settled on her person rather intensely. When their eyes met, he shyly looked away. Adaline could notice a slight flush upon his cheeks but before she could fully evaluate the moment, her attention was reverted back to Lucille.
Chapter Seven
“So…the guest list is going to be a bit longer than I told you before,” Teagan revealed with a guilty grin on her face as she looked at Adaline.
Adaline, in the middle of organizing all the food on the counter, wasn’t surprised at all by the news. Even though she was pregnant, Sasha would have even had trouble eating the gratuitous amount of food before her. There was a mountain of it!
“I sort of figured that out,” Adaline mumbled.
“But it’s a good thing because now you can get to know even more people in the area. You’ll finally get to meet my boyfriend, Carter and a few other friends.” Looking slyly at Adaline’s reaction, she added as if as an afterthought, “Oh, and Dominic said he’ll try to stop by as well. Free food always gets the guys to come over. Plus, he and Carter were college buds.”
Adaline paused only slightly in her movements. Choosing not to respond, she merely nodded her head and added, “I invited my friend Lucille as well. She’s a really great person. She’s not like me though so I may have to translate.”
Disappointed in the lack of response but excited that Adaline felt comfortable enough to invite her own friends, Teagan gave her a wide grin. “That’s great! I’ll make sure she feels right at home!”
Within the hour, they received their first knock on the door. With her large baby bump leading the way, Sasha waddled into their home with Dmitri behind her. Smelling all the produce and snacks laid out in the kitchen, she gave both Teagan and Adaline a quick hug before marching away. Dmitri smiled at both of the hosts with an apologetic smile but they were already used to the pregnant woman’s gluttonous appetite. Quickly following behind his wife, Dmitri stripped the pastry she had taken a hold of and switched it with an apple. Adaline and Teagan watched on as Sasha sent him a dirty glare. With her small stature, it was quite amusing to see the two of them face-off. Eventually, Dmitri’s sternness won out however and Sasha, dejectedly, went to the living room whilst taking a bite of the fruit. What she didn’t see though, was the clear look of relief that passed over Dmitri’s handsome features once she turned away.
Teagan and Adaline giggled at the exchange. Once again, Adaline was in awe of the relationship Sasha had with her husband. She probably didn’t know it, but she could have Dmitri eat out of the palm of her hand. What made it work though was that she never asked for that.
In the few moments the comical expression had crossed Dmitri’s features, Adaline had been reminded of Dominic. And once he again came to the forefront of her mind, she realized her body had a mix of both excitement and trepidation at seeing him again.
That time didn’t come for a while however. Pretty soon, the loft was bustling with conversation and laughter. Before Lucille’s arrival, Adaline had gotten the chance to meet all the people Teagan had mentioned offhandedly. Carter, the handsome Black man, was quite the gentleman. After introductions were made, he surprised her by signing a few words.
“You know sign language?” she gasped in awe.
Sheepishly, he shook his head. “I only know a few words here and there. One of my clients happened to use a translator, and I was able to pick up a few things. Teagan has showed me a lot since you moved in with her though.” His dark eyes strayed to the redhead standing by his side grinning with adoration up at him. Adaline could clearly see him return Teagan’s feelings in the moment that passed between them. “She’s been really excited to learn the language from you.”
Teagan leaned up and gave him a soft peck on the lips as if to confirm his statement. “Yup, Carter is always asking me to teach him a new sentence or two. Too bad it’s like the blind leading the blind.”
“In this case, the deaf,” Adaline supplied smartly.
Both Teagan and Carter’s eyes widened in surprise at her retort but after seeing the smirk on her face, they laughed.
“I like you,” Carter laughed out loud.
Adaline felt her cheeks flush at the compliment. She was usually not one for social gatherings with a lot of the people. Especially since it was sometimes hard to follow the conversation. But with these people, she felt included more than she ever had before.
Their group soon included Sasha and Dmitri. It seemed that once dinner had been served, Sasha had been able to finally get the pastry she had been eyeing since her arrival; she ate it contentedly while joining them with a bright smile.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, it was nothing. Adaline is just very quick-witted,” Carter informed her. He leaned over and shook Dmitri’s hand before giving Sasha a warm hug. When the embrace went on longer than he liked, Dmitri cleared his throat. At the sound, Sasha, Teagan and Carter couldn’t help but to laugh once more. While all three of them were quite secure in the way their relationships had changed, it seemed Dmitri would never be willing to forget.
Adaline looked on with confusion at their response. Seeing her raised brow, Teagan gasped in shock. “Oh, geez! We never told her, Sasha.”
“Never told me what?”
The four of them all exchanged glances. “Well…”Sasha started, “before Dmitri and I got back together, I dated Carter for a bit. That’s how he and Teagan met actually. And before me, Dmitri dated Teagan.”
“And all of you are still friends?” Adaline asked with clear skepticism.
“Yeah,” all four of them replied as if it were nothing. At Adaline’s shocked silence, they couldn’t help but to laugh. In understanding, Dmitri patted her on the back gently.
“Don’t worry. I still don’t even get it sometimes.”
Eventually, Lucille arrived as well. And like a good host, one by one, Adaline introduced her friend to eve
ryone. She was more than happy to see Lucille warmly welcomed. Though she sometimes had to act as a translator on her behalf, the younger woman was able to read lips quite well.
“I love your friends, Adaline. Everyone is so nice!” Lucille expressed when they had a moment alone together.
“It still surprises me sometimes to be honest. I’m so used to people eventually getting very frustrated with my speech and having to watch how they speak to me. But Teagan is even trying to learn sign language to help me out! She says I should be as comfortable in here as she is. Can you believe that?”
Lucille shook her head in wonder even as she signed, “But that’s how it should be. Teagan is right; you should feel comfortable signing in your own home.” Looking at all the couples in the room, she hesitated slightly before finally asking, “So…have you given any thought to Murphy? You know…I don’t want to step over my boundaries but Murphy is completely infatuated with you.”
Adaline couldn’t say she was surprised to hear the news. She and Lucille had made it a habit to spend time with Murphy and their little group had definitely grown quite comfortable with one another over the weeks. However, those times were also characterized by Murphy’s shyness around her at the oddest moments. There were still times she would catch him staring at her with a certain reverence in his gaze that confused her. There was nothing particularly special about her features. She knew she was average looking and she was fine with that. But he looked at her like…Adaline paused in her thoughts, hesitating to consider fully what Lucille’s comments supported.
“He looks at me like I’m beautiful,” she finally got up the nerve to say.
Lucille could see the confused skepticism in Adaline’s words as she signed. Simply, she replied, “Because you are.”
While her thoughts became overrun with ideas of seeing Murphy as more than a friend, she paused and couldn’t help but think about Dominic. If she was so beautiful, why couldn’t he see it? Why hadn’t he bothered to contact her since that night? Adaline took in a deep breath and simply smiled Lucille’s way.
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