Authors Note: As an ASL major who first started learning the language when this show was on, it's hard for me to forget it. Lately, I've been really missing Daphne, Bay, Emmett, and Travis and I thought they should come back for one final hurrah. As the title suggests, this is intended to be an unofficial sixth season of Switched At Birth. As such, this will be divided into episodes and each episode into chapters. I'll upload every chapter of each episode monthly. Thank you and Enjoy.
Obligatory Disclaimer: Switched At Birth is the property of ABC Family, I do not claim ownership. Nor do I wish to encroach in any way on Lizzy Weiss's original work. This is only a fan project and a labor of love.
Daphne waded her way through the crowded shopping mall. A small pebble hit her foot and bounced off the tiles. She looked around to find the source of the pebble. Emmet stood behind a tall potted plant near a secluded area of the path. He waved at her, nudging his head towards the secluded area. She ran over to him and they slipped behind two pillars where no one could see them. "Are you crazy?" She signed.
"Maybe a little." He smiled.
"Somebody could have seen you! We could have been caught."
"Maybe I want to be caught." He raised his brow.
"Right, and explain this to everyone. Your mom, Travis, Bay." Emmet blinked.
"Okay, you're right. Better to keep it a secret, for now." He sighed as he signed "now". Daphne met his eyes with hers.
"Just for now. We'll tell them eventually, now's just not a good time." Emmet grabbed her around the waist.
"You look beautiful!" He signed.
"Thanks, I really didn't try." She blushed.
"You are always beautiful." He smiled. "I-" She grabbed his hands before he could move them and kissed him. Emmet kissed her back, first slowly then quickly. He was kissing her neck when she felt both their phones vibrate. She tapped him on the arm and he looked up from his work, red hair draped over him.
"Phone." She signed. He pulled away and pulled his smartphone out of his pocket, she did the same. It was a text in the group chat from Bay.
"Daphne, Emmett? Where are you guys?" The text read. Daphne put her phone back and straightened her hair.
"Good?" She asked. Emmett smiled.
"Like I said, beautiful!" She gave him a playful shove and they emerged from the hiding place to find the other two. They eventually found Travis and Bay sitting at the edge of a fountain in the middle of the mall.
"Hey!" Bay signed gleefully. "Where have you two been?"
"I should ask the same." Emmett signed. "I haven't seen you since we landed!" He lightly punched Travis on the shoulder.
"Well…" Bay said. "That's kind of why we wanted to meet you guys here." She signed hesitantly. Daphne noticed something and put two and two together.
"Oh. My. GOD!" She said. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep!" Bay raised her hand to show off her engagement ring.
"Oh my god, that's gorgeous!" Daphne grabbed her hand for a closer look.
"Nice!" Emmett looked at Travis.
"But you can't tell J and K. We were going to have everyone over for dinner tomorrow and announce it."
"Promise!" Daphne signed as both girls squee'd.
Meanwhile, at the Kennish house, John was in his office sitting at his desk. He slammed his fist on the polished desktop. "Damn thing won't work!" He shouted. His computer displayed a blue screen.
"Maybe you could call someone," Kathryn shouted from the adjacent room. John looked around. Daphne's laptop was on the dining room table.
"Looks like Daphne forgot her laptop. I'll just look it up on there." He replied. He opened a web browser and clicked on the search bar. Before he could type out his inquiry, a list of past searches came up. The top item caught his eye. "Abortion clinics near me" He was taken aback with shock. Why would Daphne need to know where an abortion clinic was? "Honey?" He called to his wife. "Could you come here?" Kathryn walked into the room folding a towel. "Look at what I found on our daughter's computer." There was a tone of anger in his voice. Kathryn read the list entry.
"Oh…" She clutched her chest. "Well, maybe it's for a friend."
"Something tells me it's not." John folded his arms. "We need to confront her about this. I mean, if it wasn't bad enough- With Toby it was one thing, but...this is entirely different!" He huffed.
"Calm down, John! What if you're wrong, huh?" She walked over to the chair facing John.
"Point taken, I suppose we need something more concrete." Katharine laughed.
"You're not saying we sift through her trash-" She paused. "I'll get the downstairs bathroom." She walked towards the bathroom.
"I'll look through the guest house." After a minute of rifling through a wastebasket, Kathryn realized how silly what she was doing was. John walked in the doorway.
"John, this is silly!" She turned to face him. "We should just respect her pri-" John held up a positive pregnancy test. Katharine grabbed her temples.
"Maybe-... Maybe it was Regina's, maybe it was just a false positive!"
"Regina's gone, Katharine. The only person to have stayed in that guest house for four months is Daphne."
"Well- It still could be a false positive." John took two more from behind his back.
"All three of them?" Katharine sat on the edge of the tub in complete shock.
"What do we do?"
"I'm calling her home right now and we're going to have a talk." John stormed into the kitchen and forcefully took the phone off the hook.
"She's deaf, John." Katharine followed behind him.
"Right." He slammed down the landline. "Where the hell is that cell phone?" He aggressively patted his pockets. Kathryn grabbed the black rectangle off of the counter and handed it to him.
"Calmly, John. Remember? We'll all handle this like adults." She said as John furiously tapped his phone screen.
