Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

85. Callie

Life was starting to feel normal. Well, better than normal because before my normal life was not great.

Being at school without worrying about Melanie was great. My friends filled me in on everything I'd missed and some of Melanie's "friends" actually came and apologized to me for how she'd treated me. I wasn't in any hurry to be friends with them.

Then Dad dropped a bombshell on me.

We were going to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. PopPop and Granny wanted the whole family together.

The. Whole. Family. Cousins I'd never met. Aunts and uncles I'd never met. And presumably, none of them knew sign language.

"It'll be fun!" Dad said as we drove to the airport on the Wednesday before thanksgiving. I wasn't so sure about that. "Your aunts and uncles and cousins want to meet you, and Granny and PopPop have missed you so much with everything that went on."

I missed Granny and PopPop, too. But the aunts and uncles and cousins made me nervous.

So did flying. Still. But I was getting better at that. Mom smiled at me as we got settled in our seats.

"We're going to have a lot of fun," Mom said. "We will make sure of it."

"And if your cousins are mean, tell me. And I'll go beat up whichever sibling of mine they belong to."

"Aren't you the youngest?" I asked.

"Technically, yes. But I'm also the awesomest."

I rolled my eyes. He'd had to finger spell 'awesomest' and that's so not a word. I don't think.

We landed in Las Vegas and there were so many lights and the air was vibrating with sound. I looked around in complete awe. I've never seen an airport like this. Well. I've seen maybe 3 airports in my life. So, for all I know this is totally normal. I saw people sitting at machines pressing buttons. We're they working? I pulled on Dad's sleeve. He looked down at me.

"What are they all doing? Are they working?"

Dad laughed. I frowned.

"They're gambling. Those are slot machines. People put money in and hope they win even more money. Sometimes people are lucky and they win. Usually people just lose their money."

"How do they lose their money?" I asked.

"They keep putting it in the machine and they don't win. So they keep putting more and more in. Vegas is known for having a lot of casinos and people come here to gamble and go to shows."

I shook my head. People really put money in a machine knowing they're probably going to lose it? That doesn't make any sense. I frowned.

Dad smiled and took my hand as we walked through the airport. There were people taking pictures of us, too. Dad sort of walked a little in front of me and Mom stayed close to me, too.

Finally we got out of the airport in our rented SUV and Dad started driving to Granny and PopPop's. Mom was sitting in the back with me so we could talk more easily.

"Everyone is so excited to meet you!" She said. I shrugged. I was used to being the only Deaf person in the house, but this was going to be a weekend where only two people could communicate with me at all. And in big groups of hearing people, others tended to forget that the Deaf kid couldn't follow the conversation. I expected to spend the weekend pretty much alone. I'd brought some books and my Switch so I could entertain myself.

A little while later, we pulled up to a house in a normal looking neighborhood.

"Where are all the hotels and casinos you told me about?" I asked.

Mom laughed and then she was talking, to Dad obviously. I saw Dad laugh. We're they making fun of me?

"The Strip is just a small part of Las Vegas. We'll go see it this weekend, okay?"

I nodded.

Granny and PopPop came running out of their house when we pulled up. PopPop tore open my door and grabbed me in a huge hug before I could get out of the car. He was shaking so I lifted my head and I saw he was crying. I pointed at his cheek and signed 'why?'

PopPop put me down and pulled out his phone. He started typing and I waited. His text came through.

"We were so worried about you after what happened at school. Your dad asked us to not come because you were already pretty overwhelmed. But we were so worried. And here you are, healthy, happy - I hope - and just as adorable as I remember."

I smiled and gave PopPop a hug.

Granny came over, hugged me tight, looked at my head and the signed "how are you?" She'd been practicing.

I smiled and signed 'ok'.

They ushered us into the house where Dad's siblings and all my cousins were standing and waiting for us.

Dad smiled at me and spoke as he signed introducing me.

A woman came up to me and signed.

"Hi Callie. My name is Kyla."

Everyone introduced themselves using sign language! I started to cry. I was so happy. No one had ever tried learning sign language just to introduce themselves. Dad pulled me into a hug. I could feel him talking. I looked up at him to see if either he'd sign to me what he was saying or I could read his lips.

"I told them how appreciative you are they learned enough sign language to introduce themselves," he smiled down at me. Someone tapped my shoulder. It was Mom.

"I told you they would love and accept you," she said to me. I hugged her, too.

Aunt Kyla came up to me and smiled. She held out her phone.

"We want to learn as much sign language as we can and some of us are taking classes. You're part of this family, Callie. We're going to learn how to communicate with you, too."

I launched myself into her arms that she held out for a hug. I felt her kiss my head and I could tell she was talking to Mom and Dad because I could feel the vibrations in her chest.

I really do have a family. A big family. And they want to learn my language, too!