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Recognition warms Gina’sexpression when she spots my client emerging from a quaint home on a quiet, tree-lined street.
“Kelly!” Gina approaches the woman she met briefly at the airport the day after we got married. “It’s you!”
Kelly stops abruptly. Her hands leap to her mouth before she spits out a few words laced with emotion. “Gina? I didn’t know…I had no… clue, no idea you were coming.”
Gina glances at me before her gaze settles back on Kelly. “It was a surprise for both of us.”
Kelly looks down at her faded jeans and red T-shirt. “I wasn’t expecting you. We had a rough night, so I don’t look my best.”
I’m well aware of why she had a rough night, but Gina isn’t, and her face shows that. Concern knits her brow.
“Are you all right?” Gina quickens her pace until she’s directly in front of Kelly.
Nodding, Kelly smiles. “It’s Asa. He has yet to learn what sleeping through the night means.”
“It sounds like your grandson is a night owl,” I say, stepping into place directly behind Gina on the narrow path that leads to the front door.
The cobblestone beneath our feet has faded with time, and patches of moss cover the corners. It’s just one of the signs that the owner of the property has been distracted. The overgrown trees above us are another.
Small tasks take a backseat when you have a baby in the house.
“Romy is inside with Asa.” Kelly brushes a hand over her forehead to push back a strand of her hair. “She’s going to cry when she sees you, Gina. She absolutely loves you.”
I glance at my wife to find her smiling gently. “I’m very excited to meet her, too. Do you think she needs a minute to get ready before I come in?”
Kelly nods. “I’ll tell her we have a visitor, but I won’t tell her who. Give us five minutes. She’s still in her pajamas.”
Gina reaches for her hand to squeeze it briefly. “Daniel and I will wait right here.”
As Kelly nods and turns to rush back into her home, Gina takes a deep breath.
“Kelly owns a real estate development company,” I tell my wife. “She called when I was in Boston. She’s looking for a new financial advisor. She wants to set things up for Asa’s future and Romy’s too.”
“They seem like a lovely family,” she says as she looks up and into my face. “Why did you bring me here, Daniel?”
“To make Romy smile.”
Gina manages a small smile of her own. “What’s the other reason?”
I take a deep breath. “Romy is deaf. Asa’s father was out of the picture before he was born. Kelly and I both thought it would help her to meet you.”
A small smile graces her lips. “Because my dad is deaf?”
“Yes,” I admit. “Kelly told me that Romy first followed you when that video was posted…the one of you and your dad having dinner at Calvetti’s.”
The video was taken by another diner at the restaurant and captured a tender moment between Gina and Louis Calvetti. They were in the middle of a conversation about a tea party Louis had prepared for Gina and her stuffed animals when she was eight-years-old.
The entire conversation was captivating to watch, including the movements of their hands as they communicated and the embrace at the end when Louis lovingly touched his daughter’s cheek before he kissed her forehead.
It was a special moment between a father and his daughter that was meant to be private, yet within hours of it being posted, millions of people had viewed it.
Tears form in the corners of Gina’s eyes. “That video felt like a violation at the time.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry that happened.”
“I’m not,” she surprises me. “My dad said it was a lesson in love. He reminded me that love doesn’t always look the same in every family. We may express our love differently, but we love each other fiercely, and the world needs to see more of that.”
I raise my hands to sign to her.Your dad is so wise.
