Title: Training (Or Earning A Lightsaber)
Genre: General, Family
Prompt: ASL Prompt via puckurt fic meme on LJ
Word Count: 3,171
Spoilers: none, pre-series (2003)
Summary: "How else do you get a deaf person's attention short of throwing something or stomping on the ground?" - Roni Puckerman just wants her family to get through this.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned this show of awesomeness.
Betas: setsuna2sara (fellow grammar Nazi who is awesome at spacing what I didn't know needed spacing!), tykiki (fellow Interp. major who helped me write up an awesome curriculum that sadly didn't make the final draft), & hellobored (my awesome sister who reads everything I force on her, familiar or not, and gives me an audience's view). You three are fabulous!

A week after Dad leaves, Mom signs them up for classes. He and Mica will be in the little kids class, while Mom's in the grown-up version of the class with the other parents. He pretends to be upset at giving up his afternoons at first, but the minute look of melancholy he catches on his mother's face makes him sigh and play it off. The look of happiness is worth it. They go downtown to the center, passing all the shops in the strip mall it's connected to with Mica skipping in front of them wearing her Blue's Clues book bag that Mom attached a child leash to (Noah hated those things when he was Mica's age). When they arrive, Noah sits near the door and stares.

There are adults standing around, not saying anything, and randomly laughing. It's creeping him out a little bit, to be honest, and he's not sure whether to sit there and stare, or to grab Mica and bolt while his mom's busy at the counter. Mica's looking around, wide-eyed and curious as she sucks on her thumb. He taps her to get her attention, points at a group of adults, and pulls a face that makes her giggle loudly. An adult in the group he pointed at turns at the sound and smiles at them, then does something with his hands at the rest of them and walks over to the sitting children.

When he's kneeling in front of them, he does the weird hand things again. Noah frowns at him and huddles closer to his little sister. He doesn't trust this weird guy who's flicking his hands about like that. The man seems to figure out something because he chuckles for a second and stands to look down at them.

"Is one of you deaf?" Noah gets startled; it's the first time he's heard anyone say anything in the 5 minutes they've been in the room. The man smiled gently. Mica just stared at his mouth, so she had a clue what was what.

He pulls the chair next to Noah out so he can sit in front of them. Noah still has his arm around Mica and keeps giving him a distrustful look, a "big brother" look that he's familiar with. His sister's been teased before and he's not going to take it sitting down, even from an adult. He used to give that look himself when he was with his older brother, but now he can do it himself and is off at graduate school in D.C. So he'll sit and teach the younger version of himself how to do it better.

"Is she your little sister?" the man asks and Noah frowns. Mom always says not to talk to strangers, but she's talking to one right now, so maybe it's okay if he does too. He nods and gets a nod in return. "Does she hear a little bit or not hear some?" That's the best phrasing Noah's ever heard of that question because of how much sense it actually makes. This is a smart adult.

"She can hear lots and not hear some," he replies. He nods to himself mentally at such a good answer. His sister can hear fire trucks and airplanes and the TV if he turns it up really loud and covers his ears with the throw pillows. She just can't hear talking, dogs, and the ice cream truck when it comes down the street. She's not dumb; she draws pictures of everything she wants, plays Sega like a pro, is stupidly good at hide-and-seek, and knows how to work the toaster (if he puts bread in it first). She just can't hear some things like other three year-olds.

The man makes that weird face adults do when they pretend they understand you, what he calls the "frown-y nod," and looks to the side for a second. Then he looks back at them and raises his hands to mid-chest. He does the weird hand things and says slowly, "My name is David (he does one-handed finger moves at his name) and I think (he moves his hands and one taps the side of his head) that I'm going to be teaching (one hand pretends to grab something from the other) you two (he points at them) sign language (his pointer fingers circle each other before he makes L's with both hands and waves them away from each other)."

Noah looks at him like he's crazy and Mica stops sucking her thumb to watch his hands fascinatingly. Maybe he was wrong and this isn't a smart adult. Because he looks pretty stupid waving his hands around like a maniac, even if they're not above his head and moving around like Daffy Duck's do when he's running away. The man ('David,' Noah reminds himself) chuckles and adds, "You can just call me Dave if you want." Noah nods slowly at him, like he'll start jumping around if he does it too fast. Yes, David did just freak them out. 'Better to do it now that when they get into the classroom,' he thinks. "What's your name, young man?"

Noah looks over to his mom, who's still talking to the lady behind the tall desk and writing stuff on papers now. He looks back at David, "Noah. She's Mica." He says, pointing at his sister. He does the hand point they use at home so Mica knows she's being talked about (index and middle finger tapping the palm). Mica watches their mouths, eyes going back and forth between them as she leans back from Noah to see. David nods and asks Noah to show him the finger-tap he'd just done, which he repeats and gains him the full attention of Mica. He smiles at her and then pulls out a pad of paper and pen from his pockets to hand her. From the way she lights up and Noah stops glaring quite so much, he figures this is a good thing.

Mica's scribbling on the pad already, blue ink rubbing onto her chubby fingers while Noah looks over her shoulder. She finishes and shows him the picture, grinning widely. It's stick figure people, three of them, standing in a triangle. One has a square in its head, a second with a circle, and the third without anything. She points at the square and then Noah, all the concentration of at three year-old marring her face, before pointing at the circle stick figure and then herself. She points to the last one and then looks at him expectantly. He startles as he realizes this is her way of identifying people. Noah pokes him sharply just above his knee. That hurt.

"She wants to know your name," Noah says, frowning at him again.

Apparently he didn't figure that out fast enough. He leans forward, pulling another pen from his pocket, and draws a "D" in the head of the last one. Mica grins, showing off her tiny teeth and gums in her glee. She hops off the seat before either of them can stop her and she runs over to her mother, who's finishing up the intake forms. She grabs the side of her pant leg and tugs, making her mom look down at her. She thrusts the pad up at her, babbling non-understandingly and pointing back at the two of them. Roni looks up, spying David and Noah watching her and Mica. She thanks the woman at the desk, who tells her class starts in 5 minutes, and picks up Mica to walk over to them. She takes the pad, smiling at Mica to show she likes it, and stops in front of the two males.

She looks at 'D' sitting in front of Noah. "I'm guessing you're Mr. 'D,' then?" He smiles sheepishly and nods, standing up to shake her hand. Noah pulls back into his chair for a moment as 'D' stands up.

"My name's David. I think I might be teaching sign language to your kids if they're in the next class."

'Oh! So he's one of the teachers,' she thinks. She shakes his hand with the one holding the pad.

He points at it when they release and asks, "does she use shapes for everyone?"

Roni smiles adoringly at Mica as she nods. "I haven't figured out how to teach her the alphabet where she'll understand it yet, so she uses shapes." She looks back at him and Mica rests her head on her shoulder and starts to suck her thumb. Noah shifts in his seat and Roni looks down at him, "Noah, have you been nice to Mr. David?" Noah nods, watching David wearily as he gets up to stand beside her. She smiles at him and opens her mouth to say something else when the lights flicker on and off a few times in a row. She looks up, alarmed, as both her children grab and cling to her tightly. Noah presses his face into her leg and Mica whimpers into her neck; she cradles Mica with her cheek and places her other hand on Noah's head.

David touches her arm to gain her attention. "It's just to let everyone know that classes are starting."

She looks at him incredulously. "They turn lights off to let people know we're about to start class?" He smiles at her.

"How else do you get a deaf person's attention short of throwing something or stomping on the ground?" From the look on her face, that isn't something that's ever occurred to her. She blushes and looks down at her son, rubbing his curls until he looks up at her. He looks at David and scowls, probably upset that he's been seen acting 'like a baby.' His grumbling as he lets go of his mother is another tip off to David that this is most likely the case.

"Time for class, Noah," Roni says to the boy. He looks at her and Mica.

"Do I have class with you, Mommy?"

"No, sweetie. You and Mica will have class together with Mr. David."

"He says we can call him Dave, Mommy." She glances at David for confirmation of this and he nods.

"I did," he tells her. She looks back at Noah.

"Then call him Mr. Dave, okay? He's still older than you so you have to use manners, understand?" Noah nods enthusiastically. If he uses his manners all day he can have extra time to play his Sega the next one. She smiles and looks back up to David. "Do I need to come into the room with them first?" David looks at Mica for a moment and then nods.

"I think that might be best. You can illustrate for Mica what's going to be happening and where you'll be. She's three, I'm guessing?" Roni nods. "Then this is one of the best times to get her started," he says to her, smiling. He looks down to Noah and points at the floor near the front desk. There are yellow, stick-on footprints on the floor leading down a short hall. "Noah, can you see the yellow footprints on the floor over there?" Noah looks up at the older man. Clearly this man really isn't as smart as he'd thought before. He nods his head.

"Can you take Mica and follow them? They'll lead us to your classroom. That's where the other children are going, you see?" And there are other kids following the path of yellow feet. Some are holding hands with adults and doing the weird hand waves, some are doing hopscotch as they follow them. There are few who have circle-things on the backs of their heads and some with the hearing aids Mica used to wear over their ears. He looks up and reaches for Mica and their mom sets her down to walk beside him. He takes her hand walks her over to the start of the path, points at himself, taps her, and then points to the feet on the floor and following it with his finger. She watches this with wide eyes and looks back at Roni, who nods and makes a 'shoo' motion that Mica knows as 'follow,' which she does with her thumb still tucked safely in her mouth.

Unexpectedly, Roni feels herself tear up a bit. She covers her mouth as she closes her eyes to keep the tears at bay. David places a hand on her shoulder. "Is this the first time any of you have done something like this for Mica, Mrs...?"

"Puckerman," she fills in, taking the tissue David holds out to her and wiping her eyes. She smiles sheepishly at him and nods. "Her father wanted her to get a cochlear implant when she was an infant. But I didn't want to risk it if something happened. Have her childhood so limited just because a doctor slipped or she gets hit the wrong way while she's learning to walk or something. We got her hearing aids but, well, one year-olds can only take so much before they end up playing in the potty with Tigger." Roni chuckles as she finishes wiping her eyes while they follow the kids down the hall. Mica's skipping (her newest obsession) and swinging Noah's arm as they go into the room. She looks at David, "Is it selfish of me not to want to fix my daughter?"

David smiles at her and holds her by both shoulders so she looks at him full on. "Mrs. Puckerman," he says and looks her straight in the eye, "there is nothing to fix. Your daughter is as perfectly normal and energetic as any other three year-old. She just can't hear." He smiled at her once more before nodding towards the classroom where Mica and Noah are watching the other children and parents. "Go ahead and tell Mica and Noah where you'll be so they don't worry. We're glad to see you finally here, Mrs. Puckerman." She smiles waterily at him, straightens up, gives her eyes a final wipe, and walks into the classroom with a smile for her children.

David nods to himself. He's glad to see this family in the center. From what he's gathered already, they'll be one of the few who stay on past the 8-month course and most likely be back for more. Mrs. Puckerman is drawing on the pad to Mica and explaining to Noah that she'll just be next door to the colorful classroom. When it's clear Mica understands, she kisses them both on the head and stands up to leave with the other parents trickling out. David nods at her encouragingly and she returns it, turning to wave one last time before exiting the room and turning into the one next door. David closes the door to the room and class begins.

Two hours and 10 minutes later, Roni's standing in the hall with the other parents, the notebook she brought with her full of 12 pages of notes. She has a workbook with it's own DVD that she's to study with the kids for 15 minutes a day, a VHS sponsored by the center for the children to watch on their own (it's suggested they watch it while she cooks breakfast or lunch), and 2 books of resources for their home. She's learned the ABCs, numbers, how to sign her name and her kids' correctly, and some basic signs for objects in the house she can start identifying with the kids. There are two classes in her room that are separated with a half-closed, hanging partition in the center of the ceiling: Level 1 and Level 2 ASL for Parents of Deaf Children.

She's gotten the number and emails of a few members in her class and swapped stories with a majority of them, being the newest she's regaled with older stories. She's surprised and secretly relieved at the same time to find out that about a quarter of her class members are either divorced or in the process of it over their children and disagreements with their spouses. Different concerns about schools are talked about even though it's scheduled to be part of the next class. They watch some of the Level 2 parents signing with each other and the teachers enviously. Some of the Level 2 parents are spouses to Level 1 members surprisingly. Roni always assumed she and Elijah would have started classes together if he'd agreed with her about the surgery.

The most astonishing and comforting thing for Roni is the sense of acceptance and community in the center. It's this sense that lets her open up to the other parents and what distracts them all from realizing the kids are running late. So it was a surprise when one of the older siblings (there are four teenage siblings in the class) mentioned they had to get to practice and the kids were running late.

The classroom opened and children started streaming out and fanning to parents, holding up pictures and other crafts. Each of the children was wearing a brightly colored book bag with their names written on it in large, capitalized letters. Mica and Noah streak to Roni and each grab a leg in a hug, grinning up at her and holding out their pictures. Noah's babbling about how they learned letters and that one of the boys knows how to make crayons go back in the paper rolls. She nods at his babbling, grinning at the papers in her hands. Letters were pasted on with illustrations of their corresponding hand shapes next to them; sponge stickers that started with each letter are next to these. Mica's paper has the same things on it as Noah's, with the exception that the names of what she stuck to her paper were written below them.

It takes Roni a moment to realize her children have stopped speaking and are now just looking up at her. They had let go over her legs and were standing in front of her expectantly. She pulls the papers apart to their respective piles and hands and gives them her full attention. They look at each other then back at her and, in perfect time, lift their right hands and sign "Hi, Mommy! Love you!" (Wave; 5-hand-shape thumb to chin, tap twice; S (fist)-hand-shape to lips and away to point at her.)

She's in tears before they even finish. She's dropped their papers everywhere and is on her knees hugging them and crying into their shoulders and she squeezes them to her. She misses the exchanged looks the children share over her back and the smiles the other parents are giving her. She doesn't care about any of it because her daughter just said something to her without a pen and piece of paper. Her daughter is going to be okay and her family is going to survive this. And as far as she's concerned, that's all she wants and needs right now.

Author Notes: I really wanted to keep this as canon as possible. So far I think it's going well. All the sign descriptions are correct (I'm an ASL Interpreting major) and hopefully coherent enough to picture. This story is fully compliant up through season 2, "Never Been Kissed" (episode 6), but at this point I'm not sure how much of the canon I'll be adding in. The above story tags and disclaimer will only be present in this chapter, unless something changes to reflect each chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed! I'm off to work on more! Please review and let me know what you think!