Ma, when's dinner. Jack signed after lightly tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention.
Smiling, Nancy signed back, Hungry? At his nod, she continued, It will be ready in about ten minutes. Go get Papa and Ella and get cleaned up. Okay?
Nancy shook her head with a slight smile as she watched Jack scurry off to find his father and sister. At fourteen he was growing faster than she imagined possible; he was nearing six feet and seemed to grow out of his pants and shoes on a weekly basis. Besides watching him grow taller and stronger, Nancy was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was waiting for him to turn into the awful terrible teenager that other parents had warned her about, but so far he showed no signs of that. She was grateful, but sometimes she was amazed that he was still willing to do family things.
Like tonight.
When Ella was about two years old, one of the counselors that was working with the family had suggested 'silent nights'. This was one night a week were the family would communicate solely through sign; no talking. If they wanted to watch TV or a movie, it had to be done with the sound muted and closed captioning on. If they wanted to play a game, everything had to be done silently. Phones were to be turned off and only used for emergencies. It was hard at first. One of them would slip and vocalize something or turn on a radio or TV without thinking. Slowly, it became easier and easier to go a night in complete silence and they found themselves having to remember that they could talk on regular nights.
When Jack hit high school, both Nancy and Phil had expected him to start finding more and more excuses why he couldn't be there on family nights or 'silent' nights. Instead, he was carefully about scheduling activities so that the four nights a week Nancy and Phil's shift schedules allowed them both to be home for dinner he was there as well. And he still seemed to look forward to their 'silent' nights, but when he'd made the basketball team he had asked that they be moved from Friday to Wednesday so that he could hear them cheering from the stands. Neither of them objected in the least.
Nancy was broken from her thoughts when Jack and Ella came skittering into the room. They both presented their hands front and back.
All clean, Mama. Can we eat now, Ella signed rapidly after the inspection was over.
As soon as you and Jacky set the table, Nancy signed back.
Even as her smiled increased watching the children clamoring to get the table set, Nancy could feel a small tear escape down her cheek. This was family night… This was good.
