Kate's Point of View

Before all of the drama with Alexis' biological father, Castle and I had already invited Kevin, Jenny, Javier, Lanie and their kids over for dinner, but we almost called it off. Alexis caught wind of this and promptly told us not to cancel dinner plans on her account. Perhaps as an act of kindness, Castle extended to Alexis, and now she and her family were also joining us. We invited Flora's roommates—Amaya's three teenage siblings—as well as Martha and Serenity, but they all declined, already having other things to do.

Honestly, I was glad that Alexis convinced us not to cancel because the Ryans are bringing Jenny's long-lost and oldest daughter, Flora, and we're all excited because she has recently turned up out of the blue after having been accidentally separated from Jenny for fifteen years. Upon reconnecting with the her, Flora's been lying low, but is now curious about her mom's and stepdad's friends and wants to meet them, starting with us and the Espositos. It was Castle's idea to use our place, and I happily agreed because I honestly love being a hostess.

I'm especially looking forward to meeting Flora.

She is a very guarded young woman because of the time she spent in the foster care system, but she's even more guarded about her son Francis, who is two years old and lights up her life. Three facts that Flora makes known, though, are one: she's really good at photography and makes a seriously good killing off it; two: she's a very big of Castle's work, has all of his books in Japanese, and has even clipped out the handful of interviews I've given to magazines like Cosmo over the years; and three, but perhaps the most important fact—Francis was born completely deaf at birth because Flora was unknowingly infected with cytomegalovirus when she was pregnant, accidentally passing it to her son. Francis has never heard the sound of his own voice, but communicates mostly through sign language.

Don't get me wrong—the Ryans love having Flora and Francis in their lives, but Jenny called me one night to talk and brought up her grandson's deafness, wishing that she and Kevin could fix it. That sparked an idea in my brain, which I ran by Castle: he and I will anonymously pay for not only a cochlear implant operation for Francis, but also the speech and hearing therapy that will inevitably come with it.

We told this to the Ryans, and they were very surprised, but thanked us profusely. In her excitement, Jenny told Lanie, who told Javier, and it was them who suggested we surprised Flora, thus we all decided to have dinner together.

Castle and I contacted Thomas Ryan and he's agreed to do the surgery. He'll be calling Flora at some point tonight about it.

Alexis and Ashley are also in on the surprise and they're here with Tobias now. Dinner is almost done, but Castle is manning that right now because I've noticed that while Alexis is here and has been enjoying bonding time with her siblings, she's gotten up and walked away from them to stand by the window that looks out on the street below.

"Is everything okay?" I asked gently. "Apart from what happened yesterday, I mean. Are you and the baby feeling okay?"

She fondly ran a hand over her blossoming baby bump. "We're both okay, mom. I've just been thinking."

"About?"

"It's been almost two years since LJ and I were abducted when I was nine months pregnant, and now something is bothering me about it."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but let's hear it."

"They've abducted me, they've hurt Melissa and killed her parents, your mom, my mom, Lanie's mom, the Ryan siblings' mom, and Yoshi's dad! Hell, they even got my ex-fiancé!"

"What are you saying, Lex? I know all this."

"They hurt Calvin, abducted Jordan, and now it's common knowledge that Jessica was deep inside their circle against her will! What I'm saying is that they've gotten to some of the most precious people in my life except… except…"

"Except whom?" I prompted.

"Except Ashley."

"I'm scared he's next, but I'm also scared that Javier, Lanie or Jenny could also be next! Is that weird? They're more primary candidates than Ashley is, but I'm worried!"

She shuddered and I pulled her close in a comforting hug as she continued.

"I've stared into the face of danger, but it's like he's lying low… waiting to strike again…"

Thoroughly creeped out, I continued to hold her close for a few minutes until the doorbell rang. Seizing the distraction, Alexis went to the front door and answered it, letting the Ryans and the Espositos enter.

"No Jessica tonight?" I asked Lanie as I as approached where she was now standing with Alexis and Jenny.

"Nope. She's definitely staying put in Brooklyn with her family until her due date."

Jenny whistled a low single note. "She's close now, isn't she? How many more days?"

"Twelve."

I ran a hand over my belly absently, thinking yet again of my last child who hasn't even been conceived yet, and probably won't be for another year or so.

"It's always fun when your babies grow up and start having babies of their own."

Jenny and Lanie nodded in agreement, but Alexis blushed bright red and promptly changed the subject.

"Lanie, is it okay if I hold Liberty? I really want to hold a baby right now."

"Of course you can hold her!" Lanie chirped, easing her nearly one-month-old baby girl into Alexis' arms. "Liberty loves when people walk around with her, so don't be afraid to go talk to Flora."

"She loves babies." Jenny added cheerfully. "They make great conversation starters, as I'm sure you know."

We watched as Alexis brushed some imaginary dust off Liberty's outfit and then coo to her in a high-pitched voice about what they were going to do next. Oblivious to Lanie, Jenny and me, Alexis gave Liberty a kiss on the forehead, eliciting a giggle from the little one. Completely charmed, Alexis turned around and walked towards Flora, who was out in the living room with all of the little kids. Once she was out of earshot, Jenny rounded on me, and so did Lanie, acting as her backup.

"So," Jenny spoke in a quiet tone, so as not to be overheard. "What's the plan?"

"We sit down to eat now, and then Thomas calls Flora at a quarter to seven."

Lanie checked her watch. "That's in forty-five minutes. Let's rally the troops!"

We rallied the troops pretty quickly because everybody was really hungry, and the kids were happy to see a kid-friendly meal of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, Caesar Salad and apple juice. Little kids and grown-ups alike were thrilled when I announced that there was a freshly baked chocolate cake for dessert.

The time for the phone call came faster than I thought.

"Flora," Jenny spoke suddenly, turning to her oldest daughter. "You keep your phone in your pockets, right? I think I hear something ringing…"

Flora put down her fork and fumbled for the phone in her pocket while getting up and excusing herself away from the table.

Flora's Point of View

I sat down at the couch a few feet away from the table and answered my phone, even though I was a bit surprised to see who was calling me.

"Hi, Uncle Thomas! What's up?"

"Are you sitting down?"

"Yes…"

"There are some kind Samaritans that wish to remain anonymous who have heard about Francis' disability."

This threw me for a loop and I placed my hand over my heart. "R-really?"

"Really," He assured me. "And not only that, but they're going to pay for a cochlear implant surgery for Francis."

My heart rose into my throat at his words, and I could feel my eyes tearing up.

"Oh, my God!" my voice came out broken, but only because I was feeling so surprised. "Does this mean my baby boy is going to be able to hear?"

"There's going to be lots of hearing and speech therapy afterwards, but yes, it does mean that Francis will be able to hear you for the first time in his life."

I leaned against the back of the couch, overwhelmed with emotion and very aware of the dinner table behind me that had suddenly gone quiet.

"When is the operation scheduled for?"

"It's going to take awhile to prep my team, but how does a week from today—June sixth—at seven a.m. sound?"

"That's great." I answered, feeling relief in knowing that my uncle is the best pediatric surgeon in the country. "How much will the therapy cost?"

"Flora, that's all been covered, too."

Hearing this, I felt my throat constrict slightly. Even though I'm pretty loaded when it comes to money, hearing that even the therapy sessions were taken care of was making me feel all sorts of gratitude. I couldn't speak so Uncle Thomas continued.

"You can come pick up the paperwork from my office tomorrow so you can look it all over, but all you have to worry about is bringing Francis to the pediatrics wing on June sixth at seven in the morning, all right, sweetie?"

I finally remembered how to talk. "Okay, Uncle Thomas. Thank you so much for the phone call!"

"You're very welcome. I'm going to let you go now, but when you hang up, I want you to tell Francis what's going on and then hug him. Will you do that?"

"I will. Thanks again."

We ended the call and I pocketed my phone and gave myself a second to be less of a blubbering mess. In that second, however, Francis had wandered over to me, no doubt directed by mom, Kevin or even Alyssa, and he touched my knee gently so I'd notice him when he started signing.

'Why crying, mama?'

I got down on my knees and hugged him. He was taken aback but returned the hug with all the strength he had before pulling away and looking back at me, waiting for an answer.

'Francis, mama just got a call from Uncle Thomas,' I signed to him. 'And he told me something really important.'

He flicked his eyes to my midriff briefly and looked back me. 'Baby?'

'No. He told me that he's going to be able to do a special thing at the hospital that's going to be able to help you hear.'

His eyes grew huge when he realized what I meant and touched his ears and lips before reaching up to touch mine.

'I hear and talk? Like mama?' he signed with trembling fingers.

'Yeah, that's right! Are you excited?'

Francis nodded with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and let out a joyful squeal even though he couldn't hear himself. As he began jump up and down happily, he signed the same thing over and over.

'I hear, I talk! I hear, I talk!'