Author's Note: Just don't kill me for starting a story when I have three others unfinished. I just needed to get this typed up and out there, and out of my head. I'm still not sure if I like the idea yet, just like the Thirteenth Hour its different from anything I've ever written. I don't know when I'll update next because I'd like to get the aforementioned story finished, because it is fitting with the season. I hope you all enjoy. This is more of a prologue in some sorts.

Since he was an infant, Kendall Knight had always been the odd one out, he had always been special. Like all mothers before their due date, Mrs. Knight (Jennifer) had undergone certain tests to make sure everything was perfectly normal with her pregnancy. As it turned out everything was up to standards and going according to plan, and it seemed as though things were finally turning around for her. The pregnancy had been a stressful one full of extreme mood swings and ridiculous cravings that Mr. Knight (Ryan) put up with without even a hint of annoyance, because they were finally having a baby. It was their fifth attempt, the last four ending in miscarriages and faulty eggs. This was their chance, and they weren't going to risk it for the world. With only a little more than a month left to endure, they sat together in the pediatrician's office, waiting the results of the last few tests. Everything was fine, everything except the baby's hearing. The doctors in the NICU explained how it was a completely normal occurrence, and how they'd take a better examination of the baby as soon as he was born.

After multiple failed attempts, Jennifer couldn't help but fear that something was wrong. Her worries consumed her every thought to the point where she couldn't eat or sleep unless she was sure everything was going to be okay. Within just a few days her stress levels had risen dangerously high, inducing her labor four weeks earlier than expected.

The operation had been quick with the nurse using anesthetics to numb the pain as the procedure took place. Jennifer never even felt a thing.

Immediately after the baby was born, complications arose. He was under the average weight of a baby his size with an abnormally high heart rate. Being prematurely born the doctors whisked him off to the nursery while Jennifer cried for the chance to hold her son, her only request being denied.

During the first few hours they sedated Jennifer to calm her nerves as her emotions continued to get the better of her. While she waited for the chance to see her baby, the doctors asked her questions regarding the pregnancy while Ryan sat by her side holding her fragile, shaking hand. When the subject concerning the baby's name and birth certificate came about, Jennifer glanced quickly at her husband before the name slipped from her lips, "Kendall."

It wasn't until almost a day later that Jennifer was finally granted the chance to see her baby. She stood behind the glass window of the nursery with Ryan behind her as they looked into the tiny room full of beeping monitors and cribs. Tears sparked in her eyes at the sight of Kendall wrapped in a baby blue blanket, with tubes under his nose to help sustain his breathing and ivy needles pressed into his little arms. She couldn't believe how weak he looked.

Every day she would return and visit him, crying over his helplessness and knowing there was nothing she could do about it. It wasn't until a week later when she first held him, and she swore in that moment her heart broke.

She was given time alone to relax in her hospital bed with Kendall sleeping in her arms, his tiny hands wrapped around her finger. When the doctor came to check up on the two, Jennifer's face lit up. Finally, she hoped. I can take him home.

In the room, the doctor placed a manila folder on the table beside the bed and sat down at a stool, clasping his fingers together. "Mrs. Knight?" he mumbled as more of a question than that of a statement. Just by his tone she could tell something was off.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, or at least, nothing that we can fully diagnose at this time. After multiple tests we've been able to conclude that Kendall is perfectly healthy, besides the obvious concern of his weight which should clear up soon enough once he's fed regularly."

"Well that's good. I can take him home right?"

The doctor nodded solemnly. "Indeed you can. We'll just need you to return in about three months for a few more tests."

"Tests? But you said he was perfectly healthy."

"From what we can tell, he is. He's a happy baby. He doesn't cry or scream like most of them." The doctor paused, unsure of how to continue his spiel.

"That's a good thing, right?"

This time he shook his head. "It's abnormal. And no matter what we do, he exhibits absolutely zero response to the hearing examination."

"What exactly are you saying?" Jennifer was getting worked up at this point. Was Kendall okay or wasn't he?

"All I'm saying is bring him back within the next three months. He's still too young to diagnose anything at the moment." She opened her mouth to speak only to be stopped. "Please. It's really all we can do." And with that, Jennifer waited until Ryan was out of work to come get her so they could finally take their baby home.

When you're different, people look at you funny, even when you can't help that you're different. Sometimes you're born that way and no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can do to change that.

He was a deaf-mute; it was as simple as that. Kendall never saw it as an insult, he knew it was true. It was who he was and he wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Growing up was hard for Kendall. Lacking communication skills he learned to keep to himself and never really understood the meaning of a friend. Most kids his age avoided him, none having the time to learn the only language he knew to speak. Kendall was placed into special classes, for kids just like him, only no one else was like him. No one else was deaf.

It took until just before his second birthday for Kendall to be diagnosed as a deaf-mute. Sure the signs had been there since his birth, but the doctors needed to make sure of that fact. Unlike most toddlers, Kendall never spoke. He never cried. He never screamed. He never even giggled. His father thought of it as a blessing. Who wouldn't love to have a kid that wouldn't wake them up in the middle of the night? He'd be able to get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, albeit he slept alone.

Jennifer would stay with Kendall through the night, staying up just to keep an eye on him. Once she heard the news of his diagnosis, she studied up on her American Sign Language (ASL). She even hired herself a tutor, just to make sure she was learning it right. With each new word she learned, she'd pass it on to Kendall, helping him position his little fingers while writing the meaning of the gesture on a blank sheet of paper. She'd fall asleep every night exhausted, only to wake up and do it all again. Raising a deaf kid wasn't an easy task.

When Kendall was five, his mom became pregnant with her second child. During the pregnancy Jennifer was bed ridden. Ryan was forced to take a leave of absence from work and even hired a nanny. Between dealing with a sick wife and a deaf kid he had no time for anything else.

His family was his entire life. During the day he'd continue Jennifer's teachings to Kendall. Three years later and still the boy had so much to learn. Through all his lessons, it only took an hour for Kendall to get antsy. The child never really could sit still. When this would happen, Ryan would pull out his old guitar. As he would play, he'd reach for Kendall's hand and place it against the strings. So what if he couldn't hear the melody? He could still feel the vibrations. And once whatever song he was playing would finish, he'd take a bow and Kendall would wiggle his hands in the air, giving his father the only form of applause he knew; the silent kind.

Kendall's sixth birthday came and went as Jennifer fought through her pregnancy. With the medical bills and everything that had been going on, funds were tight. Even with the help from Ryan's and Jennifer's parents they were barely making ends meet. So that birthday, they spent the time together in the nursery, where Jennifer laid in bed as Ryan played them a song, a new song he had written for the three people he loved most in the world.

Ryan never missed the glint Kendall got in his eyes whenever he pulled out his old, sleek guitar. Once the song was over, he passed the instrument over to Kendall, placing it in his much smaller hands. "Take good care of it Kendall," he signed. And the smile that formed on Kendall's face at the gift, both his parents swore it could have moved mountains.

That night, Ryan awoke to Jennifer crying. She'd had a nightmare that something had happened to Kendall. He calmed her down enough so that she could return to resting. As for him, he was left wide awake. Shuffling out of bed in the dead of night, he walked down the hall in hopes of finding an old sitcom on TV to put him back to sleep, but on his way something stopped him dead in his tracks.

The door to Kendall's room was ajar, just like they always left it before heading to bed. He stepped into the room with caution, only to find Kendall wide awake and sitting on the edge of his bed, guitar in his hands. Ryan walked up to Kendall and rested his hands on either of his knees. "Time for bed," he gestured and Kendall just shook his head.

With his tongue poking out between his lips and his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration, Kendall began to strum. His tiny fingers moved gracefully over the strings while his blonde head bobbed along to a melody that he would never be able to hear.

He played an entire song; every note was stricken to the brink of perfection. With the final strum Kendall looked up into his father's eyes, only to find him crying.

It was impossible. It didn't make any sense in the slightest. Kendall was deaf. The boy couldn't even speak. Rarely did he ever open his mouth, except to eat and brush his teeth. Yet there he was on the edge of tears himself. "Sorry Daddy." His little fingers moved to create the words, but Ryan reached out for the little hands, only shaking his head.

"You did nothing wrong."

Kendall was confused. He cocked his little head to the side. "Then why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad Kendall. These are happy tears."

"Why are you crying if you're happy Daddy?"

Ryan didn't even try to hide his smile. Pride was written all over his face. "Because this world is full of miracles."

"Daddy what's a miracle?"

Kendall's innocence brought out a side in Ryan he never thought he had. Expecting a definition and a long string of hand movements Kendall waited patiently for him to explain just what a miracle was. But Ryan only smiled and poked Kendall's button nose, mouthing out just one word, 'You', knowing Kendall would understand. That was one moment Kendall swore he would never forget.

Everyone was rushing around him. The nanny was speaking gibberish, moving her lips so fast to where Kendall couldn't capture a single word as he watched her mouth move. Something was happening and no one would tell him what.

Kendall was forced into the backseat of the old family station wagon. His father was at the wheel while Jennifer sat in the passenger seat, clutching her stomach. And suddenly it all clicked. Jennifer was going to have her baby.

In the back of the car Kendall imagined what his life would be like once the new baby was born. He knew it would be a girl, his parents having told him when they first found out themselves. He pictured holding her hand and pushing her on the swing just as his dad had done for him. He imagined them coloring together. He imagined playing her a song that would bring her to tears, just as he had done for everyone else.

The Minnesota winter was crisp as Ryan rushed to the hospital. Show fell in sheets over the barren land. Over the center console he held Jennifer's hand, whispering to her beneath his breath a calming melody. Every so often she would squeeze his hand as a contraction would come and pass, and the tight feeling of her hand in his only made him smile. Their dreams were coming true.

Nobody ever saw it coming. One moment they were one perfect, happy family, on their way to greet the newest member. The snow obscured Ryan's vision as he drove on down the freeway. They were only minutes away from the hospital. The next exit was their destination, except they never made it that far.

Kendall saw the headlights coming straight ahead. They were going to collide, there in the middle of the three-lane highway. Just before the impact, everyone was silent, all except for one little boy in the backseat who screamed with all his might, before everything faded into nothingness.

The bright lights burned his vision as his eyelids fluttered open. He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the intense fluorescents. Surrounding Kendall were strange men all dressed in baby blue with white lab coats. Once he came to, a man stopped next to his bed with a sad smile on his face. Kendall signed to the man, moving his nimble fingers as quick as his body would let him. "Where's my daddy? Where's Mommy? Where's my new baby sister?"

The doctor stopped Kendall's frantic gestures, before making a few of his own. "We lost your dad, and your mom is waiting for you, she would like you to meet someone."

Kendall was confused. If they had lost his dad, why didn't they just search for him? He was a big guy, with blonde hair and green eyes just like him. Wincing in pain Kendall swung his legs out of the hospital bed and slipped his feet into a pair of slippers just his size. "Okay. Let me know when you find my daddy, Doctor. He looks just like me." And then Kendall smiled that dimpled grin, the one that could move mountains at just the sight.

The spectacle broke the doctor's heart as he led Kendall over to see his mother. There in the next room over, Jennifer cradled a baby wrapped in a pink blanket, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mommy! Mommy what's wrong?" he signed, sitting down in the chair beside her bed. Jennifer just shook her head, unable to bear the bad news just yet. Instead she handed the little baby in her arms off to the doctor before taking the time to sign to Kendall.

"Her name's Katie."

"Pretty! Mommy where's Daddy? The doctor said they lost him. Is he playing hide-and-seek?"

Jennifer choked back a sob, her lips quivering as she mouthed out the words her quick hands formed. She wasn't ready to explain death to her son. Not when he was so young, so full of misunderstanding, so full of life. Instead she ignored the question altogether. "No need to worry. He's still here in our hearts." She placed a hand over his small chest. "My little miracle."

Sometimes in life you're dealt the unlucky hand, or at least that's what Kendall was told to believe. And from what he heard, he was one unlucky fella. He didn't see it that way. Life handed everyone obstacles for them to overcome, he just happened to be handed a few more than most.

It didn't take too long for Kendall to learn the truth behind his father's disappearance. When he found out he responded the only way he could, with silence. He locked himself in his room and sat on his bed, staring at the guitar that rested against the wall across from him. It took everything he had to stop himself from breaking it, from smashing it to pieces. Yet in the end, he held the sleek instrument and released his emotions with each delicate strum of a string as his tears stained the darkened wood.

Kendall had a gift different from most. He could play any instrument handed to him without having to learn. It came as naturally to him as talking did to any other normal person out there. Music was a way for him to speak without words. He was a true prodigy.

At the age of fifteen Jennifer signed him up for an audition at Palmwoods Music Academy. There Kendall sat on a stage in front of fifteen strangers who all stared up at him with bored looks on their faces. He could tell they didn't care about him. They were giving him a chance because they felt sorry for him. Kendall was sick of the sympathy.

Knowing what he was capable of, Kendall sat comfortably in front of a grand black piano. Tweaking his fingers only slightly above the ivories, he pressed the first key, the vibration surging through his body as if it were part of his blood. From there he did what he did best. He displayed all the words, all the emotions he couldn't explain through the music. And once he was done, there wasn't a single dry eye in the room.

Up on stage walked a man with snow white hair in a formal black suit and tie. Standing in front of Kendall he kneeled down and held out his hand for Kendall to shake. Kendall took the gesture in acceptance, before the man began signing to him in a language he understood, his lips moving along with his hands. "Exquisite. Absolutely fantastic. Welcome to our school Mr. Knight."

Shaking his head Kendall shooed away the name. "Mr. Knight was my father. I'm Kendall, and thank you. Just wait until you see me play the guitar." And he couldn't be sure, because he would never be able to hear the sound, but Kendall swore the man laughed, and he did too. He laughed in his own special way, the only way he knew how, the silent way.