Chapter Two
The first two weeks Brianna couldn't sleep by herself.
"A new house has to be scary," Rick said, moving her hair from her face and wrapping her tears when Brianna woke him again. It was after midnight. "But I promise this is your last new house. C'mon, you can stay here tonight."
Snuggling into Rick Brianna fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.
"How are you guys adjusting?" Topher asked Drew. "This has to be an adjustment for all of you."
It was. But he and Rick were adults and has to cry about when it came to change.
"We still love them both to bits. It's hard to see the fear in Bri's eyes because she's in another home," Drew said. "She is so scared that if she doesn't the small thing wrong we will change our minds. She thinks we would keep Jorja but not her."
"Poor kid. It has to be frightening 'cause right now I bet she doesn't believe you no matter what you say," Topher said. "She's one strong kid, though."
"That she is. She is so into her sister, it's adorable."
"And how is Jorja?"
Drew told Topher Jorja was doing everything she should now. Twelve weeks behind in her development, she was basically a newborn now. She wasn't much of a crier but she loved attention. She had a lot of spunk too. Like her sister she had to fight for the start.
"Loving being held so much. She's making more noises than I thought she would but she loves lights."
The "medicine" that Jorja was getting at home was what the nurses simply didn't have the time to give. Lots of hugs and cuddles. Both girls had to be protected from germs more than usual right now and "cocooning" with their dads was helping them bond. The amount of affection from her dads was something Brianna adjusting to and enjoying. This wasn't going to stop with time, either.
"We waited a long time to be dads. We have a lot of love to give, every day," Rick told her.
Hearing Brianna say in the hospital that one of the biggest things she wanted with a family was a bedtime story and a kiss goodnight was heartbreaking. Both children were going get much more. Having parents who built things out of Legos and colored with her was new to Brianna. She wasn't limited to playing in her room either. She really liked that. It was soothing being just being able to hear her foster parents talk in the kitchen.
"Will my sister be able to understand us talking after she gets her operation?"
Jorja had been tested again and it was proven that hearing aids would minimally and she likely wouldn't be able to hear enough to develop speech. The couple explained Jorja's potential future operation to Brianna. She deserved to know about as well. She didn't cared if her sister could hear or talk. We could just learn to talk with our hands then, she said.
Both men said they would be doing that if that had been the case.
But it 'would be nice' if doctors could "fix Jorja's ears." Brianna said.
Both Rick and Drew smiled at that comment. They were explaining this all on the eight-year-old level with help from the hospital audiology department. They showed Brianna a picture of the device and a diagram where it was placed and the outside sound transmitter that looked similar to the hearing aid. All Brianna was worried about was that her sister might feel pain. She was assured Jorja wouldn't.
"When she first starts to hear, she might cry. Every sound and even our voices might be scary," Drew said. They wanted Brianna to be there the first time her sister heard when the implants was turned on. They didn't want her to think Jorja was being hurt.
"That makes sense," she said.