We Don't Have to Feel Alone

Chapter 9 (Trigger Warning)

TW: Small mentions of r*pe

"Italicized dialogue" = sign language

Sariah wakes up the next morning in a daze.

Out of habit, she reaches over to grab her cochlear off her nightstand, then remembers everything that happened last night. She had a dull headache an her eyes felt puffy because she'd gone straight to bed after crying for what could have been hours. She was sure it was nothing some water and coffee couldn't fix though.

Sariah sighs, then forces herself out of bed and makes her way downstairs, already hating that she couldn't hear anything. Chris and Nova were each sat on the couch. Nova was curled up in a blanket watching cartoons, while Chris had his feet up on the coffee table and looked glued to his iPad. He had one airpod in and one ear free, so he hears Sariah walk down the stairs, looks to her and gives her a small smile. Nova sees her too and gives an eager wave, which made Sariah wonder if Chris had already informed Nova that Sariah wouldn't be able to hear for a little while. Sariah smiles and waves back.

Chris jerks his thumb towards the kitchen, "There's coffee," He says aloud.

"Daddy, she can't hear you," Nova corrects.

Sariah laughs, "I can still tell what you guys are saying by watching your mouth move. It's called reading lips."

Nova gasps, "Ooh! That's cool!"

Sariah smiles, then walks into the kitchen to get some coffee.

It was a gloomy, rainy day, so they spent the day inside. Sariah noticed that Chris seemed to do a pretty good job at balancing work and taking time to pay attention to Nova. Nova seemed perfectly capable of entertaining herself; she would sit on the floor with a coloring book and crayons on the coffee table and color for what seemed like hours, but when she asked Chris to play with her, he put down whatever he was doing without hesitation.

Later into the afternoon though, Nova had wandered up to her room and Chris had gone back to scrolling through his iPad, presumably for work. He sets it down for a moment though and turns to Sariah, still sitting on the couch next to him.

"I don't think I've ever seen you rest," He says, signing what he could as he speaks, "You should do it more often."

Sariah smiles, "You're one to talk," She signs and speaks.

"How are you feeling?"

Sariah shrugs, "Okay, I guess. I emailed everyone that I needed to email, so hopefully I'll have a new cochlear soon."

"It's not a problem. I totally trust you with Nova even if you can't hear. You're incredible with her regardless."

Sariah's smile grows, "Thank you."

Nova makes her way back downstairs, then crawls back onto the couch and into Sariah's lap, facing her.

"Can you show me how to say my name in sign language?"

Sariah laughs, "Of course, sweetie."

After a while of teaching Nova to sign her name and a couple of other small words, Nova lays her head on Sariah's chest and drifts off. Still feeling exhausted from everything that had happened yesterday, Sariah leans her head on the couch and shuts her eyes too, slipping off not long after.

Chris glances over at the two of them, not wanting to take his eyes off of Nova and Sariah. Nova wasn't exactly shy, but she wouldn't crawl up and snuggle with just anyone, so to see her comfortably falling asleep on Sariah was something special. Sariah had clearly grown comfortable here too, which was exactly what Chris wanted. When he'd first thought of bringing someone in to help with Nova while he was on tour, he didn't want someone that felt like a stranger, or an employee. He'd wanted someone that felt like a friend from the very beginning, and he deeply appreciated the bond that he and Sariah were forming.