Pam rolled over in bed, feeling Jim spooned close against her back, and wrapped an arm around him; careful not to wake him. She glanced out the window, her eyes squinting from the early morning sunlight and saw a light snow falling onto the lawn. Pam smiled to herself, and pulled the blankets further up her shoulders, she wished for just a few more hours in bed, savoring the morning together. They rarely had a moment alone, the two of them, Olivia kept them both on their toes. She had been so different then their first two. The easiest of newborns. She slept through the night so quickly, ate whatever foods they gave her, but when it came to being a toddler, she had no desire to be away from either of her parents, and sleeping in her own room was still posing to be a challenge. The princess toddler bed they’d spent far too much money on, wasn’t enough of a bribe to get her to sleep on her own just yet.
Jim felt a kick in his rib, and stirred, his hand reaching around to remove a tiny foot from his side, and furrowed his eyebrows, opening his eyes, blinking fiercely and sighed.
“Shhh,” Pam cupped the side of his face, planting a kiss on his lips quietly,
“She’s still asleep,” Olivia’s feet were against Jim’s back, her head resting against his thigh, and her hair wild around her. The battle of putting Olivia back in her own bed multiple times a night was not easily won, and sleeping in their bed was just easier these days.
“If you’re quiet, she might stay asleep a little longer,” Pam mumbled, and reached over to the nightstand to check the time on her phone.
Olivia stirred, and grabbing ahold of the blankets pulled herself up, staring at her parents. She yawned, bringing a hand to her face and planting her finger inside her mouth.
“TV, Mama,” she spoke around her thumb, and pulled a stuffed rabbit out from the blankets, crawling off the bed, belly first and padded along the floor, out the door.
Pam groaned, smacking a hand on her forehead.
“I got it,” Jim kissed her, and got out of bed, “Come here, peanut,” He picked her up, and moved out the room.
Moving down the stairs, Jim watched as Cece headed out the back door to the barn to do her usual morning routine with Oakley, and smiled to himself. He was proud of her diligence and responsibility she’d gained with having a horse. He wasn’t sure at first, if his daughter, who was most definitely not a morning person, would be able to get up early every day to feed and water the horse, and make sure the stall is clean for the day, but she did. She also continued to dance. This time at a new studio with other deaf dancers as well as hearing dancers and she’d grown to become quite good at ballet; her other love. He hoped it would continue that way, horses and ballet, drawing her interest much more than boys, but he knew one day, very soon, that would change.
Cece waved at her Dad with a toothy smile when she saw him watching from the window, and Jim picked up Olivia’s tired hand and waved back, looking at his youngest,
“Say hi to sissy,” he kissed her crusted cheek.
“Sissy,” she mumbled, laying her head on his shoulder, adjusting her head until it was in just the right crook of his shoulder blade.
Jim set her down on the bench and put a sippy cup with water in front of her, as well as an ipad with one of her favorite morning shows, and got to work packing lunches for everyone. His stomach turned nervously thinking about his first day at the school, and felt a mild sense of imposter syndrome. Was he deserving of this position? Would he be able to keep up with the ASL all day, and not get lost? Could he draw these students in to his love of reading and writing as he did with his former students?
“You’re going to do great,” It was as though she read his mind, Pam moved behind him, wrapping arms around his thin waist, and laying her head against his back.
He chuckled, “You sure?” He continued to spread mayonnaise on a sandwich.
“Absolutely. Start off with one of your jokes, and you’ll have them hooked,”
“Pam, they’re fourteen. Nothing I say is going to impress any of them,” he rolled his eyes, turning around, a knife in his hand,
“Easy, killer,” she laughed, pushing his hand away.
“I just hope she’s alright,” he motioned his head to Cece outside, closing the door to the barn,
“Jim, she’s been through far worse than having to listen to you lecture about Of Mice and Men for an hour of her day,” Pam laughed, slapping his behind and moving to the table.
Cece opened the slider and came in, moving toward Olivia, and taking a seat next to her at the table, her usual cereal bowl already laid out.
How’s my Ollie Cece grinned, tickling her sisters side, and smiled when she giggled back.
Good Ollie grabbed a piece of a Mini Wheat out of Cece’s bowl and placed it in her mouth.
“Cee, are you ready for today?” Pam asked, grabbing backpacks from the floor, and putting lunch boxes inside.
“I don’t want that,” she replied, pointing at the lunchbox. Pam tilted her head, and pursed her lips. She didn’t have time for this at 6:45 in the morning.
You can buy lunch tomorrow
Cecelia rolled her eyes, and took a last bite of her breakfast, and got up from the table. As she did, Philip came into the kitchen, his hair awry, and his eyes barely open.
“Eat,” Jim dropped toast in front of his son, and fixed his hair before moving toward the stairs to go get himself ready.
“Cece, we’ll just ride together, okay?” He asked,
“Whatever,”
“Fantastic,” he rolled his eyes, glanced at Pam for a look of support, and she smiled softly at him,
She’s fine she signed privately to him, and he took the stairs two at a time to get ready for his first day of work.
Is it weird for you that your Dad’s going to be our new teacher? Cece’s best friend at school Taylor asked as she took her usual seat in the third row, next to Cece in their first period English class. It was freshman English, and although they had just gotten used to their former teacher, she’d had to leave right before the holiday break, and her Dad had been offered the position. Truth be told, she didn’t hate the idea of him being there. It meant that if she wanted a soda from the teachers lounge, she could get one. It also meant rides to school instead of the bus, and of course, an easy A in English; a subject she wasn’t fond of. She’d much rather be in her art classes, and this was at least a way for her to get a good grade for the rest of the year.
She shook her head no, pulling out her copy of the book from her backpack, and a pen.
My Dad’s an easy teacher, it’ll be fine,
Jim walked into the room, a dozen eyes staring back at him as he set his briefcase down on the desk, and pulled the chair out. He glanced at his watch and had a few minutes left to spare before class started. He was terrified. He’d taught English to high school students for the last three years, but none of them had been deaf. He suddenly felt as though he’d forgotten every sign he’d learned, and he swallowed hard. Some of his students were hard of hearing, but most of them deaf, and had very high expectations of their teachers--many of whom were also deaf. He met a few smiles in the front row, mostly from girls, and he was used to that look of pining admiration. He’d been the point of many a girl’s crush the past few years, and it made him laugh thinking back to his high school days, when he would have given anything for girls his age to notice him.
He cleared his throat when the lights flickered, indicating the start of class, and wiggled his fingers to get everyone’s attention to the front. He signed as he spoke,
“So most of you know that I’m taking over for the rest of the year, and I’m really excited to be your new English teacher. I know that you’ve been reading Of Mice and Men which is one of my favorite books, and I’m really excited to continue discussing the book with you. But, before we do that, I’d like you to take out a piece of paper, and for the next forty-five minutes, I want you to free write about what you think makes a book worth reading. What is it that makes a book a classic?” He sat down, watched as there were groans and eye rolls amongst the group, and smiled down at his book, opening it up to the highlighted section.
I thought you said he was easy Taylor glanced at her friend, an irritated look upon her face.
Sorry Cece circled her chest, and pulled her notebook out. A page covered in a flower border she’d drawn in front of her. She continued to move her pen around the outside of the page, adding more flowers into her ‘garden’ until she’d finally reached the center of the page. She smiled to herself watching the peonies intertwine with roses and lilacs across her notebook. It was beautiful.
Jim walked over to her desk, eyeing her paper, and tapped his pen on her shoulder. She looked up at him sheepishly and shrugged. He continued moving up the aisle grabbing papers off desks until he’d reached the front.
“Tonight, I want you to finish up the last three chapters, and tomorrow be prepared to support your defense on whether or not what happened to Lenny was justified,”
The lights flickered indicating a class change, and Cece watched as Taylor packed her bookbag up, her long dark hair, cascading down her back. Cece sighed as she noticed Taylor’s new shoes, and averted her eyes quickly, when Evan, a boy in the second row, caught her stare.
Dyke
She looked toward her father, his eyes down at his own desk, grabbing worksheets for his next class, and felt a sigh of relief come over her when he didn’t see this interaction.
Asshole she retorted.
There were benefits to signing and not speaking. For one, Cece and her peers could get away with swearing without teachers noticing, (most of the time) and they could have conversations during class, especially with clueless teachers, like her Dad.
She scrambled the rest of her belongings into her bag, and beelined it for the door, knowing she had an hour of ceramics to look forward to, and wanted to make it out of the room avoiding a conversation with her Dad.
Her good ear happened to be in his direction, “Cece wait,” he spoke, catching her glance. She watched as the rest of her peers filed out of the classroom.
“I know this book is boring to you, but you have to do the work,” he raised his eyebrows looking for some affirmation she understood.
“Yeah, sure, Dad,” she didn’t meet his eyes. Cece pulled her backpack further up her arm,
“If you need anything today, I’ll be right here, okay,” he leaned in, his eyes smiling.
“Dad, I’m fine,” she was becoming agitated, “I’ve been here without you for three years, and I’ve survived, I don’t need you now,” She moved quickly out the door, leaving him bent over his desk, staring at the wall. He sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead. It was only the beginning of his first day and he already had a headache. He grabbed his cellphone and shot a quick text to Pam,
“Good luck with your showing today, also C hates me, and doodles all day--did we know this?”
She wrote back quickly, “Keep your eye on her, if you don’t she doesn’t pay attention in any of her classes other than art. She’ll be fine. I gotta run, but I love you, have a great day!” She sent him some hearts and he put his phone back into his bag, feeling not any better. He now wondered how much about Cece he didn’t know at all.
It was either his lack of breakfast that morning, or a feeling of guilt that made his stomach turn in that moment. Either way, he was off to find a vending machine snack before his next class.
