“We are so fortunate to have all of you here with us, celebrating this holiday season. Charles and I are honored that you decided to visit us and enjoy good food and drink.” Her hand waved in their direction. “Our son, Blake, is enjoying the status of an attending physician at Boston General Hospital, one of the best hospitals in the country.”
Blake lifted his hand for a quick wave and nodded his head. No mention of his date, but he’d bet Carli was thrilled not to be noticed. She nestled close, a step behind him. Hiding?
“Harrison is making us proud, still serving as Chief Financial Officer of Wentworth Industries. He and his lovely wife, Anne, blessed us with a precious grandson eight months ago. Their family portrait graces the walls of the family room if anyone has yet to meet Parker.”
Blake wondered how many of these people knew that Parker was deaf. It would be just like his parents to keep that secret to themselves, hoping they could fix the problem before anyone found out. Carli’s influence appeared to be rubbing off on him.
“Please, continue to enjoy our hospitality with food, drink, and the company of friends. We wish you the happiest of holidays.”
With that, a polite applause broke out, and his parents bowed their heads and left their elevated position to mingle among their guests. He took no time in dragging Carli down the stairs, away from prying eyes. He’d noticed more than a few people cast curious gazes in their direction. Once he knew where their relationship was going, then he’d be better able to handle the questions that were bound to come up.
“Sorry you got pulled up there,” Annie signed to Carli as she and Harrison found them in the crowd. “Mom likes to make a big show.”
“Good signing, Annie.” He took a bit longer, especially with the fingerspelling of her name.
“Oh, I have a sign name.” She placed the letter A with her thumb on her chin. “It’s the letter A and the sign for mother combined.”
“A sign name?”
“Carli gave it to me. She said you never give yourself a sign name. A Deaf person has to give it to you. It’s easier than fingerspelling it every time.” She must have used up her knowledge of signs, since she’d started only speaking.
Focusing on Carli, he said, “You never gave me a sign name.”
Annie laughed. “I think she did. Maybe she just didn’t tell you what it was.”
Carli’s cheeks were bright red. Did he even want to know?
“Something to do with being a big dork, probably,” Harrison offered, his face scrunched up.
“Actually,” Annie slipped in, “It’s the word handsome only using a B hand.” She formed the letter B, then scraped down each side of her chin.
“Handsome, huh? I can deal with that. You gave me that name?”
Carli tilted her head in a yes. “You won’t like it as much when Deaf people make fun of you for it. It’s how you’d introduce yourself to them. They’ll think you’re conceited.”
“Great. You couldn’t have come up with something better than that?”
Both Carli and Annie laughed. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at them.
“I guess, if you want something that isn’t so embarrassing, we could do the word doctor with a B.”
All three of them practiced, and Blake was relieved. “Much better. Though I like that you think I’m handsome.”Handsome.Beautiful.Could he give Carli a sign name? Most likely, she had one from her family.
“Enough with the handsome, big brother.” Harrison kept glancing down the hallway, where their parents were meandering toward them. His mother wore a frown. At their signing? Too bad. She’d have to get used to it with a deaf grandchild.
“I was wondering, Carline,” his mom said, tipping her head. “Do those implants come any smaller? Parker is only an infant, after all.”
“He’d get processors that fit his size, though the implant itself is what’s surgically installed. That obviously wouldn’t change. Often, in the case of an infant, the processor will be clipped to his shirt instead of his ear, since babies move around a lot. As he gets older, he’d get a child-size processor and then an adult size.”
Audrey Wentworth’s mouth pursed, and her eyes narrowed. “But the part that shows, that can be smaller, can’t it? I mean, so it’s less noticeable. Parker can hardly wear his hair long and curly like yours to hide it.”
“Mom, I think Mrs. Vanderschmidt is looking for you.” Blake needed his mother to get off this subject. The expression on Carli’s face at her suggestion that CIs needed to be hidden, like they were an embarrassment, showed what she thought of that.
“Of course. She’s probably looking for the name of my caterer. She was going on and on about the food earlier.” Her blue silk floated as she left, and his father headed toward his golf partner.
“Sorry about that. I don’t think she knows all that’s involved with CIs.”
“They’ve been told enough,” Harrison interrupted, his face in a scowl. “They don’t want to listen.”
