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Wren bit his lip to hold off a powerful surge of emotion in his chest. Then, he took a deep breath. “But he wants to be welcome here. He moved here for his Deaf niece—to be part of her life, and that’s going to involve us.”
Caleb quickly shook his head. “He’s a guest. You don’t have to invite him into our space.”
“Yes I do. That little girl deserves any member of her family who’s willing to put in the work,” Wren shot back.
Caleb flinched with the same pain Wren knew he was feeling. And it was clear from the expression on Caleb’s face that he understood there was no room to argue. In this case, sacrifices would have to be made on both sides because Lila deserved all the things Wren and Caleb were never offered.
She deserved more than a handful of book-taught conversational phrases and fake smiles to hide all the ways their parents regretted not having a family that felt normal. And if Wren could give that to just one kid, he’d consider it a life’s goal met. Feelings be damned.
After all, he’d been through a lot worse.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Tell me again why you’ve declined those hearing aid implant thingies.”
Percy regretted the question the second he asked when Penny’s face went immediately stormy. The afternoon had been a fairly good one, having spent most of it at Penny’s new place helping her put furniture together and finish painting the guest room.
They were now just finishing up pizza, and Lila was tucked against his side, sucking her thumb and watching something on Penny’s iPad, where two very expressive people were signing and walking in front of a green-screen forest.
Percy had been trying to follow their signs since they were slow and quite exaggerated, but his three whole lessons had only given him the bare basics, and he couldn’t. He understood why sign was important, but he still didn’t get why Penny fought so hard against Lila’s procedure.
He thought back to Wren and how he struggled in verbal conversations sometimes, but they’d rubbed along well.
Very well, in fact.
So well, Percy still blushed when he let himself think about it.
“They’re not hearing aids. They’re permanent implants, and she doesn’t need them,” Penny said through clenched teeth. “And I’m so bloody sick of explaining that to everyone. If you’re not interested in learning, don’t. You’re more than welcome to leave.”
Percy bristled. “That’s not what I’m—Pen, I’m just trying to understand. I got to know one of those baristas at that café, and he’s got them. He functions totally normally?—”
Fuck. He knew he’d messed up there too.
Penny took a long, slow breath before speaking again. “She is normal.”
“I know?—”
“You don’t know,” Penny cut him off. “If you did know, you wouldn’t say that shit right in front of her.”
“It’s not like she can—” He snapped his jaw shut. What the fuck was wrong with him?
Penny rose and stormed off into the kitchen, so Percy carefully detached his niece and helped her snuggle into one of the sofa pillows before following. Penny was at the counter, pouring herself another cup of tea, and he let the moment simmer for a moment.
“This is new for me.”
She scoffed. “I know. It’s new for me too, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a complete fucking arsehole about it.”
Percy bowed his head and almost laughed when a fresh cup of tea appeared in his line of sight. He curled one hand around it, then used the other to make a fist, rubbing it in a circle over his chest. ‘Sorry.’
He looked up to find Penny’s face still angry, but he could see she was starting to soften. “I’m willing to give everything up for her—for this.” She waved her hand around her kitchen. “My job, my home country, my bloody fucking language. None of it matters because I love her, and she deserves to be in a place where she can thrive. And that means not cutting into her skull and implanting shit into her head so everyone else can feel more comfortable.”
Percy bit his lip, then asked, “What if she wants them?”
“Then she can get them. She knows what they are, and she knows what they do, but she doesn’t seem interested, and why should she?”
“She’s not even the least bit curious what hearing is like?”
Penny laughed, but she was clearly not amused. “Not presently. She goes to a Deaf school. She’s got Deaf friends. Why should she give a shit?”
