by Susan Stoker
“So?” Frankie signed impatiently.
“What if you got her new Army men?” Kiera suggested.
Frankie shook his head stubbornly. “No. She loves the ones she has. Fletch gave them to her. I want to protect those for her.”
“I’m not sure your dad will approve of spending that much money on someone you just met,” Kiera told Frankie slowly. “Maybe you can think of something less expensive.”
“I’ll pay for them,” the little boy told her, his little lips drawn together in a tight line of concentration.
“Do you have that much money?” Kiera asked.
“Not right now, but I can earn it. I’ll do jobs around the house. I can ask dad if there’s something I can do to earn money. I don’t care how long it takes, even if I never get an allowance until I’m really old, like thirteen, I’ll do it.”
Kiera tried not to smile at that. Really old at thirteen. Being around kids certainly made her feel ancient sometimes. “What if your dad doesn’t have that much money to loan you?”
Frankie’s shoulders slumped. It was obvious he hadn’t thought about that. His eyes wandered around the room as he tried to figure out a solution in his head. Kiera saw him stare at Annie for a long moment before he turned around and said, “Tell my daddy I’ll sell the iPad I got for Christmas to pay for it.”
Kiera stared at Frankie in shock. He loved that iPad. He’d talked about it nonstop in the talk circle in the classroom. Had said that with an app he had on there, he could actually “talk” to hearing people. He’d said it gave him a sense of freedom and more confidence to go out into the hearing world on his own. For him to tell her he’d sell it to buy something for Annie was shocking.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to do that, what about—”
Frankie interrupted her and shook his head, his light brown hair flying around his head. “No. It’ll be enough to buy the cases, right? The good ones? Not the cheap ones?”
Kiera slowly nodded. “I’m sure it will be.”
“You’ll call him tonight, tell him?”
“You could call him and use the built-in camera and the app to tell him yourself,” Kiera said.
Frankie shook his head again. “No. I’ll be busy with Annie. She said I could spend the night and we’re gonna make a tent city and obstacle course in her room. I won’t have time.”
“Okay, Frankie. If you’re sure it’s what you want.”
“I’m sure,” he signed. Looking over at Annie once more, he met Kiera’s gaze. “She’s worth it. Even if I can’t see her on my special app and can only email her until I can make enough money to afford to buy a new iPad, she’s worth it.”
And with that, the little boy went right back to Annie’s side and they began playing as if he hadn’t been gone.
Kiera went back and sat next to Cooper and he asked, “Everything okay?”
“It’s good. I’ll talk to you later.”
Looking concerned, but realizing it wasn’t an emergency, Cooper nodded and they all went back to watching the movie.
An hour later, Emily was helping Annie get ready for bed while Fletch was assisting Frankie.
“I know you want to play more, but only another hour. I mean it, Annie. I’ll be checking on you guys. You need to get some sleep for another fun day tomorrow.”
“Okay. Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Will you talk to daddy and have him go to the store tomorrow and buy the present we talked about for Frankie?”
Emily sighed. She’d hoped her daughter would’ve forgotten about this with the excitement of the day and with Frankie sleeping over. “We’ll see.”
Annie’s face scrunched up in what Emily recognized as a precursor to a monster of an argument. “I talked to Kiera today. She said that there’s a special camera thing that’s been put on sale recently that hooks into a ’puter or iPad and not only shows someone’s picture and lets the other person hear what they’re saying, but it has a little computerized person that puts what is said into sign language in a little box in the corner. It’s like FaceTiming, but it translates.”
Emily stared at Annie in shock. She knew Annie wanted to talk to Frankie when he left, but assumed she wanted something like a web camera or something. That was cheap…and easy. “If it’s a special thing, I’m not sure we can just go into a store and buy it, sweetie.”
“True,” Annie said, sounding no less determined or put off. “But Kiera said they had them out in California in special stores. We could order it and Frankie could pick it up when he gets home.”
“Why don’t you start out with writing him letters, then if he wants to continue, we can look into a webcam.”
“No. I’m going to learn sign language and Frankie is going to help me. He can’t do that if we can’t see and talk to each other.”
Emily sighed and sat on the side of Annie’s bed. “It sounds expensive, honey.”
“I know,” Annie said and wrinkled her nose. “I asked Miss Kiera how much and she wasn’t sure. But, Mommy, I have something that’s worth a lot of money.”
“What’s that?”
“My Army men.”
Emily sucked in a breath. Annie had mentioned selling her precious Army men the night before, but she’d thought her daughter had just been talking. As she continued to press her case, Emily realized that whatever it was Annie felt toward Frankie was serious.
“I know they’re worth a lot a lot of money. They’re still in their boxes and brand new. ’Member when I told you to sell them when we were poor and Daddy Fletch wasn’t in our life? You said they were worth a lot and I should keep them until a time when I found something I really wanted. Well, I really want this.”
Climbing into Emily’s lap, Annie turned huge eyes up to her mom. She wound her arms around her mom’s neck and looked right into her eyes. “I don’t want Frankie to go back to California and forget about me. I want to be able to ask how his day went. I want to celebrate his birfdays with him and if any other girl thinks he’s hers, I want to tell him that isn’t the case. Please, Mommy? I know if Daddy takes them to the pawn shop, he’ll get a ton of money for them and then I can afford to get Frankie this special camera thingy.”
Emily sighed. Annie wasn’t a child who asked for much. She never had been. There was no way she could deny her this. Especially when it wasn’t something Annie wanted for herself. If she was willing to sell her most prized possessions, who was she to stand in her way? Emily knew the toys would only bring in about ten dollars, if that, but between her and Fletch, they could afford to make up the difference and purchase the special equipment.
“Okay, baby. I’ll get your dad to take your toys to the pawn shop tomorrow and call Frankie’s dad and make arrangements for the camera. Are you sure about this? Once your Army men are gone, we won’t be able to get them back.”
“I’m sure,” Annie said immediately, a smile on her face from ear to ear. “I’ll miss them, but I’ll get to talk to Frankie every day in return. It’ll be worth it. Can you get his dad to email a picture of the special camera? I want to print it out and give it to him tomorrow as a present before he leaves.”
“Yeah, I’m sure we can arrange that.”
“He’s gonna be so surprised! I can’t wait to see his face,” Annie said.
Just then, Fletch knocked on the door. “Permission to enter?” he asked. Frankie was by his side, smiling at Annie.
In a flash, Annie leaped off her mom’s lap and was in front of Frankie. She gestured for him to follow her, not that he had a choice, as Annie had latched onto his hand and was dragging him over to a pile of blankets and towels they’d brought in earlier in preparation for making their “tent city.”
“I guess we’re forgotten,” Fletch said, putting his arm around Emily’s waist. “Did you have a good talk?”
“Just wait until I tell you what you’re doing tomorrow,” Emily told Fletch with a rueful shake of her head.
“That bad?” Fletch ask
ed, leading her out of their daughter’s room.
“Not bad, but surprising for sure,” she said.
The next night, the last night Annie and Frankie would be together for a long time, the adults sat at the table in the dining room while the children went into the family room. Annie had asked for some privacy while she “talked” with Frankie.
“Are you sure you don’t want me there to translate?” Kiera had asked the little girl.
Annie had shaken her head and said, “I can understand him just fine.”
The adults had shrugged. They didn’t know if Annie was being one hundred percent honest, but they all loved her attitude.
When the kids had disappeared into the other room, Kiera leaned across the table and asked Emily, “What did Annie get for Frankie? I think it’s so cute they each wanted to get something for the other.”
“I know, right?” Emily said with a chuckle. “Thanks to your discussion with Annie, she decided she had to get that special camera thing. You know, the one that has the little human figure in the corner that translates spoken word into sign language. Frankie’s dad is picking it up today and will have it at the airport when you guys get home tomorrow.”
“What?” Kiera said, clearly taken aback.
“I know, I know, it’s expensive, but Annie insisted. Even had Fletch sell her Army men to pay for it.” Emily chuckled. “As if that would cover it, but it honestly wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be. Frankie can plug the little camera into his iPad and download the app and Annie can use her regular camera and download the app. They’ll be able to talk as much as they want. I know it’ll help Annie learn sign language too.”
“She sold her Army men?” Kiera asked.
“Yup.”
“Holy cow.”
“Ask me what Frankie got for Annie,” Kiera told Emily.
“I’m almost scared to ask,” she said.
“An expensive pair of cases for her Army men,” Kiera said matter-of-factly.
Emily’s eyes widened in her face. “He didn’t.”
“Now ask where he got the money to pay for them.”
“No…please don’t say his iPad,” Emily breathed.
“Yup. His precious iPad, which he’s usually glued to. He wanted to get the most expensive and best-built plastic cases, so Annie wouldn’t have to worry about her Army men getting dirty or ‘used’.”
“Holy crap. We’re in the middle of a Gift of the Magi story,” Emily breathed.
Neither said anything for a heartbeat, until Kiera whispered, “I need to see this play out.”
Apparently in agreement, Emily followed Kiera as she tiptoed to the door of the family room. Fletch and Cooper met them there and they all watched as the two kids exchanged gifts.
Annie was so excited to give Frankie his gift. It looked really small next to the two large boxes he had wrapped up for her, but it didn’t matter. He was going to love it.
Smiling at him, she handed him the envelope with the picture of the fancy camera that would translate her words into sign language for him. He’d told her the first day they’d met how much he loved his iPad and how much he used it. This was perfect.
She was still grinning at him as he unwrapped it. He pulled the picture out of the envelope and stared at it for the longest time.
Too excited to wait, she grabbed it out of his hand and pointed to it. Then she pointed to herself and to him. Then brought her hand up to her ear, pantomiming a phone, then she made some fake signs with her hand and pointed at him. Then down at the picture she was holding. Then back to herself.
Annie grinned huge and handed the picture back to him, extremely pleased with herself.
Frankie didn’t smile. In fact, he barely moved, just continued to stare down at the picture of the fancy camera for the deaf.
Finally, he gave her a small smile, and put the picture down. Then he pushed the two big boxes over to Annie.
Confused now, and a little worried that it didn’t seem like Frankie was all that excited about talking with her once he left, Annie tore the paper off the first box. She saw the picture on the box—and her smile faded. She turned to the next present and opened it just as quickly. It was a duplicate of what was in the first box. She looked up at Frankie.
He was smiling at her. He made the sign for man, and then soldier—he’d taught those to her the first time she’d shown him her Army men—then pointed to the boxes. He nodded and his eyebrows went up as if to say, cool huh?
He pointed at her, then made a gesture as if to ask, where are they?
Annie stared at the beautiful cases for her Army men. Frankie had gone out of his way to get her something he knew she’d love. She felt a pang of sorrow for the toys she knew were gone forever, but bravely smiled through it.
Frankie had to care about her. He wouldn’t have gotten her something so expensive if he didn’t. He never had to know she’d sold her toys to give them the ability to talk to each other.
Pointing to her dad’s iPad sitting on the table, she pointed at it, then to Frankie. She gestured toward the door, hoping he’d understand that she wanted him to go get his own device so they could download the app and get familiar with it so they could talk when he got home.
When he didn’t move, Kiera wiggled in her seat. They simply stared at each other, as if waiting for the other to make a move.
“Can I interrupt? Kiera asked from the doorway.
Annie jumped in surprise, then touched Frankie on the arm to get his attention and pointed at Kiera.
Annie nodded.
Kiera and Emily filed into the room, while Fletch and Cooper stayed near the doorway.
“Do you like your present?” Kiera signed to Annie.
She nodded and signed, “Yes.” Then she turned to Frankie and said, “I love it, Frankie. It’s perfect.”
Frankie’s hands moved then, signing quickly, as if he was excited about something. Kiera translated as he spoke. “I knew you’d love them. They’re perfect for your soldiers. They’ll stay the same and perfect for you forever. You don’t have to worry about the boxes breaking anymore. Go get them. I want to make sure they fit.”
“What about you, Frankie?” Kiera asked. “Do you like your present from Annie?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” he signed a little less enthusiastically.
“It’s so we can talk when you go home,” Annie said softly. “I really like you and would like to learn sign language so we can use regular cameras to talk, but until then, this will translate what I’m saying and what you’re saying back to me. The little computer person in the corner will make the signs as we talk. You plug the camera into your iPad on your end and I just need the app on mine. I’m sure Daddy Fletch or Cooper will help us set it up if you go get your iPad.”
The kids stared at each other for a long moment before Emily put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder and said, “Sweetie, Frankie sold his iPad to pay for the cases for your Army men.”
Annie stared at Frankie with wide eyes. “He did?”
“Yeah.”
“But I sold my Army men to pay for the special camera thing,” she said, not taking her eyes off Frankie’s face.
The second Kiera finished translating for her, Frankie’s gaze whipped back to Annie’s. He tilted his head and spelled out slowly, “You did?”
Annie nodded.
The adults all held their breath, waiting for a reaction from the children. They were going to be upset, that was for sure. They’d each sold one of the most important possessions they had to get something for the other, and now both presents were essentially useless.
It was Annie who broke first.
A giggle erupted from her throat. She covered her mouth with her hand to try to stifle it, but it was no use. Another escaped, then another. Before long, the little girl was laughing hysterically.
And amazingly, Frankie had joined in. They’d fallen backwards and were rolling around on the floor laughing as if they’d never stop.
Fletch nodded, and the two men strode all the way into the room, each with a present in their arms. Cooper handed a small box to Frankie and Fletch handed a larger box to his daughter.
Cooper signed to Frankie as Fletch spoke.
“I know you guys are probably a little disappointed with your gifts, but—”
“Daddy,” Annie interrupted. “I love my gift. Yeah, I’m a little sad I don’t have my Army men to put inside them, but Frankie got them for me. And he did it because he likes me and wanted me to be happy. I can’t be too sad.”
“Me too,” Frankie signed. “I’m glad Annie wants to talk to me after I leave. Because I want to talk to her too. I’ll do extra chores and earn enough money to get a new iPad, then we can talk.”
“Well,” Fletch said, “I’m glad you guys aren’t mad at each other. Go ahead and open your presents from us now.”
Both kids tore into their gifts—and their little gasps of disbelief rang out in the room.
Annie lifted her two Army men from her box at the same time Frankie pulled out his beloved iPad. Two sets of eyes whipped up to the men.
“How?” Annie asked.
At the same time, Frankie signed, “How did you get this?”
Fletch smiled. “Emily told me what Annie wanted to get for you, Frankie, and Kiera told Cooper what you were supposed to get for Annie. Then it was simply a matter of me and Cooper talking. I can’t tell you how proud we are of both of you. The fact that you like each other enough to want to get each other a gift is great. But it’s even more amazing that you were each willing to sell something you loved in order to get the other something you thought they would enjoy is amazing. You two are amazing. We couldn’t bear to sell your things. Now you can both enjoy the gifts you were given.”
Annie jumped up off the floor and gave her dad a hug. Then she hugged Cooper. Not wanting the women to feel left out, she hugged both her mom and Kiera. Then she turned to Frankie and threw her arms around him too.