Chapter Ten
Now that Christine was three years old, Brennan and Booth had started looking for a preschool for her to start in the upcoming fall. It had led to a bit of bickering and uncertainty after hearing the opinions of outside sources. Some believed Christine would be better off if she was exposed to hearing children. Others said that she needed the resources only a deaf school could offer. When the deadline for applications was only two weeks away, Brennan and Booth sat down in the living room together to discuss their options.
"Alright, Bones. Let's get this started," Booth said as he began to look through their collection of pamphlets. "Truman Elementary?"
"No special needs services," Brennan said.
"Franklin Early Childhood?"
"They only offer half days. We agreed Christine is ready for full days. What about Smith?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Bad vibes."
"There's no such thing as bad or good vibes," Brennan argued.
"Whatever," Booth said, rolling his eyes. "Before we start narrowing down schools, we have to decide what we want. Hearing or deaf."
"You know what I want to do. I want to send her to an all deaf school. You're the one who's having a hard time making the decision," Brennan said.
"I'm leaning towards all deaf, too, I just want to consider ever option," Booth said.
"I've considered every aspect of this decision and have weighed the pros and cons for each," Brennan said. "I believe that the pros of an all deaf school greatly outweigh the pros of a hearing school. She'll be taught in sign language. She'll receive special services such as speech therapy administered by experts in the field. The only pro I see to sending Christine to a hearing school is that she will be exposed to hearing children. But I also see that as a con, as they might make fun of her. I know what that's like, and I do not want to take any chance that my daughter might have to go through it. I really want to send her to a deaf school."
Booth nodded. "Alright, Bones. You've convinced me. Deaf school it is." He threw four pamphlets for hearing schools aside. "That leaves us with three options. We have Laurent Clerc Early Childhood, Cogswell Academy, and Davila School for the Deaf."
"I don't want to send her to Laurent Clerc because they only offer early childhood education," Brennan said. "I want Christine to be able to go to this school for many years. They need to have upper level education."
"That leaves Cogswell and Davila," Booth said. "If you want the school to have upper level education, I think we should go with Davila. Cogswell is early childhood through eighth grade, but Davila goes all the way through high school. They also have full day schedules for the preschool. Every student receives speech therapy, American Sign Language lessons, and intensive English lessons; it's a bilingual school."
"It's also associated with Gallaudet University, the only college in the world for deaf students," Brennan said. "I really like Davila, Booth. What do you think?"
"I know you don't think this is a good way to make a decision, but I've really got a gut feeling about Davila," Booth said. "My gut says that it's the perfect school for Christine."
"Mommy, what are you and Daddy doing?" Christine asked as she approached her parents in the living room.
"We're talking about where you're going to go to preschool," Brennan said.
"I want to go to preschool, Mommy. I want to go to school like Parker does and learn," Christine signed with a big smile.
"We're glad you're excited about school," Booth said, smiling back. "We think you're going to go to a school called Davila. Does that sound good to you?"
"Whatever you think, Daddy," Christine said with a shrug. "When do I get to start?"
"In just a few weeks," Brennan told her. "Are you excited?" Christine nodded happily. "Good. I'm glad. Why don't you bring in one of your puzzles to work on while Daddy and I fill out the paperwork for your school?"
"Okay, Mommy!" Christine ran upstairs to her bedroom to grab her favorite puzzle.
"This preschool ain't gonna know what hit 'em," Booth said, looking after his daughter. "Christine's gonna knock their socks off when they see how smart she is. And how cute."
Booth and Brennan worked on the application forms for Davila while Christine worked on her puzzle on the floor by their feet. They finished stuffing it into an envelope just in time to hand deliver it to the mailman. When they went back inside, Christine asked her parents to make her macaroni and cheese for dinner. Brennan and Booth spent their dinner of the cheesy pasta watching Christine go on and on about how excited she was about going to preschool and learning everything in the world. She kept going on and on about preschool until Brennan and Booth turned out the lights in her room after saying goodnight to her.
"Man, I've never seen a kid so excited about going to school," Booth said as he and Brennan went back downstairs.
"I know. I hope she enjoys it as much as she thinks she will," Brennan said.
"She's gonna love it. Know why?"
"Why?"
"Because we found the perfect school."
XXX
A few weeks later, after the final paperwork at been completed and uniforms had been purchased, it was time for Christine to start preschool at Davila. As soon as Christine saw the classroom, her eyes lit up with excitement. She saw all of the other kids signing to each other and with their parents and their new teacher. Christine looked at her parents with a broad smile.
"Look, Mommy! They all know sign language!" Christine signed happily.
"I know, sweetheart," Brennan said with a smile. "Why don't we go meet your teacher?" She took Christine's hand and the trio walked across the room where Christine's preschool teacher, Miss Holly.
"Who do we have here?"Miss Holly asked in English and sign language when Brennan, Booth, and Christine approached her. "What's your name?"
"My name is Christine Booth," Christine told her.
"Nice to meet you, Christine. I'm Miss Holly," Miss Holly said, spelling out her name with her fingers. "Are these your parents?" Christine nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Holly. I'm Seeley Booth, and this is my girlfriend, Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth said, indicating to himself and Brennan.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Booth, Dr. Brennan. Welcome to Davila," Miss Holly said as she shook their hands. "Christine is adorable."
"Thanks," Booth said with a proud smile.
"Mommy, you said preschool starts at 8:15. Daddy's watch says that it's time to start," Christine signed.
"You know how to tell time, Christine?" Miss Holly asked, surprised.
Christine nodded. "Mommy taught me."
"That's great. You're a very clever girl," Miss Holly said and signed. "You're right, Christine. It is time to start." She began to wave her hands in the air to get all of the deaf students' attention, motioning for them and their parents to come together in a large oval marked with yellow tape on the carpet.
"Would everyone like to sit down?" Miss Holly asked in English in sign language. She, the students, and their parents all sat down on the floor. "Hello, everyone! My name is Miss Holly, and I am very happy to welcome you to preschool at Davila! I'm excited to get to know every single one of you and help you as you step on the first stone on the path of your education." Miss Holly grabbed a stack of papers from behind her back and placed it in front of her crossed legs. "I'm going to pass out our daily schedule to your parents and a description of what we'll be doing each day this year." She started to pass the stack around the circle and waited until everyone had received a handout before she continued. "Great! Now, parents, if you want to take a moment to say goodbye to your kids, we can start playing some get-to-know-you games."
"Bye, Christine," Brennan said. "Daddy and I will pick you up at three o'clock, alright?"
"Okay, Mommy," Christine signed, but her attention was drawn to the other children, not her parents.
"Are you going to be okay all day?"Booth asked, but Christine hadn't seen him ask the question. He tapped her shoulder so she would look at him. "Christine? Are you going to be okay by yourself?"
"Yes, Daddy. I love you, but will you and Mommy please leave? Miss Holly isn't going to start the game until the parents leave."
"Oh. Alright. We'll just, uh, be going, then." Booth kissed Christine's head. "We love you, baby."
"Love you, Daddy. Love you, Mommy." Christine was still mesmerized by all of the colors of the classroom and the children signing.
"I think she wants us to go, Bones," Booth said. He and Brennan stood up and walked out with the other parents. They got into their car in the parking lot and Brennan started to drive them to the lab while Booth looked over the handouts they had been given.
"Damn, Bones. Wait until you see this schedule," Booth said. "This is nothing like Parker's preschool."
"What do you mean?" Brennan asked.
"This is really intense, that's all. It's like real school. Parker's preschool was more like daycare," Booth said.
"Well, I didn't want to send Christine to daycare. We've had Leah for that for the last three years," Brennan said. "We wanted to send her to a place where she would be challenged."
"And challenged she will be," Booth said. "Group time for half an hour, ASL lessons for forty-five minutes, one-on-one speech therapy for forty-five minutes, English lessons for forty-five minutes, lunch for half an hour, recess for half an hour, reading lessons for forty-five minutes, and math, science, social studies, art, and PE for thirty minutes each."
"I wish I had had that kind of intensive education when I was Christine's age," Brennan said. "They do one-on-one speech therapy for forty-five minutes every day?" Booth nodded. "Does it say exactly what they work on?"
"It depends on whether the child uses hearing aids or not, but they mostly work on learning to read lips in preschool, because apparently being able to read lips can enhance a deaf child's ability to learn to speak. It says they work more on speaking in kindergarten."
"Good. It will be good for her to learn to read lips," Brennan said as she pulled into the parking lot at the Jeffersonian. "Let's go. Hodgins sent me a text saying he has something important for us to look at."
For the next few hours, Brennan did her work in the lab while Booth filled out some paperwork in her office until it was quarter to three, when they got back into their car so they could go pick up Christine from school. She was the first face they saw when they pulled in front of the school where all of the children were waiting. Christine waved to her teacher before she jumped into the backseat of the car.
"How was your first day at school, Christine?" Brennan asked, turning towards the back of the car from the passenger's seat.
"It was so much fun, Mommy! I loved it!" Christine signed happily. "But there was something I didn't understand."
"What's that?" Brennan asked.
"Some of the kids had little pieces of plastic in their ears. I didn't know why," Christine said.
"Those are called hearing aids, Christine. They make sounds louder so that people can hear better," Brennan explained.
"Oh. Why don't I have hearing aids, Mommy?" Christine asked.
"Well, your doctor never mentioned anything about hearing aids, so we never got them for you," Brennan said.
"If I had them, would I be able to hear things?"
"I don't know, Christine. That's a question we would have to ask your audiologist," Brennan said. "Is that something you really, really want?"
Christine shrugged. "No. I'm just curious."
"Alright. We can look into it. Now, what did you do on your first day of school?"
Christine spent the majority of the evening talking about how much she loved her teacher and her classroom and being around kids her age who knew how to sign. After Booth and Brennan put her to bed at seven o'clock, then went down to the living room and sat on the couch together.
"I'm thrilled Christine loves school as much as she does," Booth said. "I think this school is really going to be great for her."
"I agree," Brennan said with a nod. "What did you think about Christine asking about hearing aids in the car?"
Booth shrugged. "I think she was trying to learn what something was."
"But what did you think about her saying that she wants them?" Brennan asked. "Do you think she dislikes being unable to hear?"
"I think it's hard to truly dislike something when you've never experienced the alternative," Booth said.
"Do you think we made the wrong decision by not getting her the cochlear implant?" Brennan asked quietly.
"No, Bones. I don't," Booth said, squeezing her hand. "I think Christine is just a curious kid. She doesn't know what she wants. She just knows what she wonders about. She was wondering about hearing aids. That doesn't mean she hates being deaf." He lifted Brennan's chin with his finger so he was looking into her eyes. "We made the right decision, Bones. You know we did. Christine is in the best place for her. She's a brilliant, happy kid. Who knows what she would be if she had a cochlear implant? I mean, that's a whole different ball of wax." Brennan raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Never mind. What I'm saying is, Christine is the person she is because she's deaf. If she had a cochlear implant, who knows what her personality would be like? Who knows if she would be as happy as she is now?"
"But she could also be happier," Brennan pointed out.
"I really don't think she would be, Bones. I think she's about as happy as any kid could be."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because she's loved. She's loved more than any kid could ever hope for. And that is what happiness is all about."