The glare his father sent his way was one that typically had Harrison backing down and changing his tune. Wasn’t happening this time.
“So, Anne finally got her way. You’re prepared for your son to live his whole life as a disabled person?” His mother’s expression was stiff and disapproving. How had he missed how negative she could be? Had he really stuck his head in the sand and pretended everything was fine?
Annie stiffened beside him, so he reached out and squeezed her hand, then plopped Parker into her lap. Standing, he shoved his hands in his pockets and took a few steps closer to his parents.
“This was not Annie’s decision. This wasourdecision.”
“Last week you were all for getting him fixed up.” His father rose now, too.
Pulling his hands from his pockets, Harrison threw them in the air. “Don’t you get it? He doesn’t need fixing. He’s a perfect little boy. Cutting his head open and inserting some hardware isn’t going to make him suddenly a hearing child. He will always be deaf, with or without cochlear implants. We love him no matter what, and we will do the absolute best we can to help him be successful in whatever he wants to do. If later in life, he decides he wants implants, then we’ll look at the options and discuss it with him. For now, it’s not happening.”
When his father started to open his mouth, Harrison cut him off.
“There’s no changing our minds at this point. We’ve made the decision. And while we’re talking about decisions…” Taking a deep breath, he continued. “I’ve decided to hire another assistant.”
Snapping his head up, his father shook his head. “Is Paula not doing her job adequately?”
“No, Dad, I’m not hiring a secretary. I’m hiring an assistant. Someone to help me with all the accounting work I have to do. It’s getting to be too much and taking away time from my family. The woman I have in mind is a CPA who only wants part time hours. She’ll take on some of my load. This way I can spend more time with Parker, taking him to his speech therapy and other interventions he needs.”
His mother glanced at Annie. “Why can’t Anne do these chores?”
“First, they aren’t chores. They’re services our son needs to make sure he gets the rich language environment he deserves and needs to thrive. And he’s my son, too. I should be there, so I understand what’s going on and what my role in his education will be. I won’t leave it all up to Annie. I can’t do that, however, if I’m working twelve hours days and weekends as well.”
“Exactly what part of the budget do you plan to use to pay for this new assistant? A CPA won’t be cheap.”
Harrison had anticipated this question. “I’m taking part of my salary and using that. This woman doesn’t need insurance, since her husband carries it, and I’m paying her hourly.”
“And you’ll be able to live on that reduced salary, Harrison?” His mother seemed aghast that anyone would willingly give up money.
“We may not be able to do multiple tropical vacations every year like before,” Annie said, “but we have a generous savings. We’ll get by and be happier, because we’ll have more time together.”
Holding out his hand, Harrison drew his wife and child closer to him. Thank God he’d come to his senses. Losing Annie would have destroyed him. If she’d taken Parker, he’d have given up entirely.
Focusing on his parents, who looked like they’d been sucking on lemons, he said, “We plan on using American Sign Language with Parker and have started lessons. Annie’s a bit ahead of me, so I’ve got some catching up to do.”
His mother’s gaze whipped up. “So our grandson will be subjected to not being able to speak?”
“He’ll have access to speech and language therapy, and we’ve decided he’ll go to a school that has a bi-cultural, bilingual curriculum. That means he’ll learn standard English as well as ASL, but he’ll also learn about the Deaf culture and what that means. But the most important things are that he knows we love him and that we provide him with language. Everywhere.”
“Da,” Parker yelled, then startled at the sound he’d made.
Annie laughed. “His hearing aids have worked well to allow him to access some things auditorily, and he often scares himself when he’s loud.”
His father cleared his throat. A sure sign what he was about to say was important…to him. “I still don’t like this. We want our grandson to have the absolute best.”
Picking up his son, Harrison shifted him to his hip. “And he will, because his mom and dad love him. I know he’s your grandson, butweare his parents. We’ll make any decisions about his future. If you don’t like them, I’m sorry, but they’re our decisions to make. Not yours.”
Annie stood next to him and rubbed his back. God, he loved this woman. What had he done to deserve her?
“If you want to be involved in Parker’s life, I suggest you start learning his language.”
His father’s crossed arms showed his thoughts on that, but surprisingly his mother shifted in her seat and unfolded her hands.
“I guess if I must. Now, how do I tell my grandson that I love him?”
Chapter twenty-five
Parker squealed and waved his arms up and down as Harrison opened the door and stepped back, allowing Blake to come in.
