A/N:

If you're coming directly to this chapter after the last update back in December, go back one and read the author note I posted in April and then come back here .

First of all, I've missed writing this story and thanks to all who favorited and followed during the hiatus. I hope y'all still out there. I'm sorry it took me this long, I was stuck editing but I finally finished editing ALL Thirty four- chapters! That was a lot of work but I'm happy to say that overall I was happy with the story-line and all the changes I made were in the wording and in the flow of the dialogue and sentence structure only but I didn't make any changes in the story-line .

I have so much to say but it will take a whole chapter, please know that your kind comments are VERY much appreciated and that I wish I could respond to every one individually especially to guest reviewers. And Emma, I thought about your comment and how you were recommending this story to other parents and yes, I'm so glad it reads better now and I feel it all those long hours of editing were worth it.

In this chapter, Olivia and Abby act as special education advocates. For more of a background on special education advocacy, re-read chapter 4 before reading this chapter (it's relatively short). If not, that's okay too.

I put together this chapter using terminology from the books: Dancing with Max by Emily Colson and Damaged, a novel by Lisa Scottoline. In Dancing with Max (true story of a mother and her son with autism), Emily Colson describes her son as having a 'refreshing innocence & an inability to lie or cheat or be intentionally cruel'(this is exactly how my son is, by the way).

Emily Colson also says in her book "You just have to meet him where he is, join him in his interests." This incidentally, is the same idea behind the Son-Rise method Olivia advocated for in the earlier chapters. When I first read this book many years ago, I wasn't particularly impressed but back then I was not ready for the message. I just finished reading it again, and this time around I absolutely love it. It's not just about autism, it's about learning to live life and being happy regardless of life circumstances. So if you're looking for an inspirational book, Dancing with Max will change your life.

Lastly, even though I borrowed ideas from the books mentioned, Johnny's case is my own invention as well as the idea of having the service dog presentation in the previous chapter.

Two weeks later

Abby knew that as soon as Olivia found out about Johnny she would want to take the case pro-bono except that she and Olivia were not lawyers, they were special education advocates. This meant she did not earn enough to afford private yachts and expensive vacations. Yes, she could make ends meet and that was pretty much it.

After conducting a series of interviews, Abby realized that Johnny needed more help that she'd originally anticipated. What started as a 'simple' request for a service dog had turned into a need to establish an appropriate educational program for Johnny.

"Really, Abbs." Olivia had said. "Fighting for Johnny to have his own service dog is like going to the dentist and getting your teeth cleaned and polished when you're needing extensive dental work and never coming back to fix it."

Abby got the message loud and clear. Yes, she knew that more than anything, Johnny needed an IEP (individualized education plan) that would really work for him.

Now as she sat in Mrs. Ramirez's living room, Abby wondered how to best explain all this to both Johnny's mother and grandmother when there was a clear language barrier between them.

Rosa Ramirez stepped from the tiny kitchen into the living/dining room combo and placed a tray of lemonade on the coffee table.

"Thank you," Abby helped herself to a glass from the tray and the two other women followed suit. Her eyes surveyed the place as she sipped her drink. It was definitely cramped with too much furniture packed in tight spaces and there was a tiny balcony which was kept closed but with the curtains drawn to one side offering a partial view of the surrounding buildings.

"El no necesita perro, necesita otra mejor escuela," Abby said in an emphatic tone. She was trying to explain that what Johnny needed the most was a better educational plan rather than a dog. The women gave her a blank look and she found and she realized not for the first time, how the Spanish she learned in high school was pretty useless in moments like these.

Ariana, Rosa's daughter looked confused. Her English was better than her mother's but it was still a struggle. "I thought you were going to help us get a service dog for Johnny." This was the first meeting with Johnny's mother as she was always working it seemed. So Abby had scheduled this final meeting on a Saturday morning. Ariana was very young, her demeanor was quiet and spoke so softly that Abby had to lean forward to hear her.

"I was telling your mother how it is more important for your son to be placed in a different school where his needs would be best served." She handed Ariana a flyer of a school by the name of Brooklyn.

Ariana took a moment to look over the pamphlet. "This school is very far from here…."

Abby shrugged one shoulder. "It's a 30 minute drive but it's one straight shot off the freeway."

Ariana shock her head. "It's too far. We like this school. Close to our house." She looked at her mom, searching for the right words. "She can walk from here and pick him up from school every day."

"I know. But honestly, your son is not getting the kind of help he needs. At Brooklyn, there are trained staff that specialize in working with autistic kids. He will get the attention he needs. We can make a request for transportation to be provided."

"I still don't understand," Rosa cut in. "Why not get the dog?"

"Yes, if you still want a service dog, we can see about that later but first, we got to get Johnny in the right program."

Johnny's mother smiled candidly at Abby. "When mama told me how the dog Blackie help calm Johnny at school, I was happy. You see, I work two jobs, mama is alone with Johnny all day. Sometimes Johnny cries and she can't calm him, I can't calm him. We don't know what to do, he doesn't listen. Do you understand?

Abby sighed. "Yes, I understand. It must be hard. That's why we want to help you any way we can."

"And you are to help us for free? When she told me we didn't have to pay anything" Ariana's eyes shifted to Rosa. "When you said it was free, I did not believe it. How is this possible?"

Abby smiled broadly. "When I told Olivia, Teddy's mom about you, she immediately wanted to help."

Ariana shook her head in disbelief, smiling. "Wow. I don't know what to say. I thought mama did not understand."

"It's true. We are not charging anything for representing you at the IEP meeting, which I took the liberty of scheduling for three weeks from now. I hope you don't mind."

Both Rosa and her daughter exchanged a look. "I am sorry. Can you repeat that again?"

"I said it will be free." Abby said speaking slowly because of the language barrier. "There's a meeting at the school in three weeks. Olivia and I will be there. It would be best if you could come, but you don't have to be there. All you have to do is give us permission to request Johnny be transferred to the other school. I will type a document for you to sign." Rosa and Ariana simply nodded and smiled. "Do you understand what I mean? Would you like us to ask the school for Johnny to be transferred?"

"Ah…" Rosa hesitated. "Yes. But he…he needs the bus to pick him up."

"Yes, we will make a request for transportation as well," Abby smiled reassuringly as this was definitely the smaller of the two requests that they would be presenting to the school district.

Johnny's IEP meeting

Three weeks later

In the next hour, Abby and Olivia listened as the team of experts presented their reports regarding Johnny Ramirez's current academic functioning. The team included: Julie Latimer, the special education director, Lisa Ryan, school principal, Leann Rhymes, Speech pathologist, Rita Fines, occupational therapist and Mrs. Delmar, special education teacher.

Johnny's grandmother, Rosa sat in between Abby and Olivia. She sat hunched over, holding her bulky purse with one hand, her demeanor indicating she felt uncomfortable and out of place sitting in the large conference room and in the company of the school personnel.

"Johnny needs intensive interventions." Abby said to the group when it was finally her turn to speak. "The longer we wait to provide intervention, he's only going to get further and further behind. I know you're sitting there thinking, he's only two. Yes, and that's the beauty and tragedy of it. He's two, so this is the time for early interventions, this is the time when interventions have a greater chance of success but also…the longer we wait, the harder it will be for him to catch up so the gap between him and his peers will irrevocably widen."

"Well, Ms. Whelan, we know what we're doing," the special education director retorted. Mrs. Delmar has extensive experience with severely disabled children such as Johnny." She looked at Mrs. Delmar. "How long? Yes, you've been with us for seven years, correct?"

Mrs. Delmar nodded and scanned the circle of familiar faces for cues.

"In those seven years, how many times had you had a child like Johnny who required one on one attention?"

Mrs. Delmar looked at the school principal and the speech pathologist. They all drew a collective sigh.

"Two or three times I believe."

"Okay…does that mean two other kids besides Johnny?"

Mrs. Delmar nodded. "My class is for kids with low to moderate disabilities, so yes, it's unusual for a child such as Johnny to be assigned to my class."

Abby and Olivia didn't need to press further. It was obvious that Johnny had been placed in Teddy's class as there were no other classes available at the time. They knew the only other two classes in the district were filled to capacity.

"About how much time is Johnny spending participating in classroom activities?" Olivia asked Mrs. Delmar who let out a huff before answering.

"Johnny is not participating in any group or classroom activities even though he's physically present. One of the aides sits with him the entire time. Sometimes he lets us strap him in a highchair but he usually screams. The aides also accompany him to speech therapy, adaptive P.E and occupational therapy which he receives individually one hour per week each.

"After reviewing all the reports, I believe that Johnny needs at least three hours a day of one on one time with a certified ABA or Floortime specialist in addition to all the services mentioned," Olivia said. "Actually, the services would need to be at least one hour a day five times a week each for maximum effectiveness."

At once, a series of gasps coming from the school personnel filled the room. Some of them shock their heads in utter disbelief. It was as if what Olivia and Abby were asking was nothing but a pipe dream.

"The budget isn't there for it. I don't have the staff or the teachers to give him what he you're asking for." Julie Latimer, the special education director retorted.

Abby and Olivia exchanged a look. They felt for Mrs. Delmar. There was something inherently wrong with a system that turns teachers into politicians. Mrs. Delmar's hands were tied. If she agreed that Johnny's needs were best served by attending the Brooklyn Institute, then by law, they have to provide it. But teachers were over worked and their budgets tight, so she said nothing.

"We understand that. That's why we're having this meeting." Abby replied.

"You've made your point. May we move on, please?"Lisa Ryan interjected, looking at both Abby and Olivia. And then immediately added, "In the ideal world, you're right. However, reality is that Johnny is doing fine in Mrs. Delmar's class." Ryan's puffy freckled skin was getting a little flushed around the collar.

Liar, Abby thought. If anything, Johnny WAS disruptive to the class. But that was not a point she was wanting to make. She looked at Olivia who gave her a pointed look. Earlier they had discussed the possibility of the school district bringing up the fact that perhaps they (Abby and Olivia) had an ulterior motive for wanting to place Johnny in a different school, that they were wanting the boy in a different class because it would be best for Teddy. It was a long shot, but she supposed it was possible. She wouldn't put it past them.

"This is not about doing fine," Olivia retorted. "This is about giving Johnny a chance to overcome his challenges NOW. The time is now. Not tomorrow. Please turn to page 11 in my report." Everyone turned the pages as they each had a copy of the report. "We know how the young child's brain grows. The brain connections that get stimulated early in life get reinforced while unstimulated connections get eliminated. After a critical time in development, learning still occurs but remediation becomes more challenging once the dense neural development of early life has diminished. We now know with absolute certainty that the quality of the environment that children spend in their early years is critical in their capacity to develop adequate foundation for later learning as well as for emotional regulation.

Ladies, we know that in Mrs. Delmar's class Johnny not learning, he's just merely going to school everyday and going through the motions." Olivia continued with ease. "In his current environment, he's not learning to communicate with others in a socially acceptable manner. Most of his time in class is spent keeping him from hurting himself and/ or from creating chaos in the classroom as he's not able at this time to follow directions. Following directions is fundamental for learning. What he needs right now is to be under the care and supervision of certified ABA therapists in a therapeutic environment and there's only one place where he can get that and that is at Brooklyn Institute. Therefore, we're requesting that Johnny be transferred there at the earliest convenience. "

A heavy silence filled the room. The school personnel exchanged long pointed looks. They all knew Mrs. Delmar couldn't devote the time required to work with Johnny one on one, she had a whole class to think about. And the classroom aides couldn't work with him either; the three of them had a hard time curving his behavior as it was.

"Brooklyn?" said Leann Rhymes in a tone that implied that perhaps Olivia and Abby had lost their minds. "They have a HUGE wait list."

"We know," Olivia smiled a satisfied slow smile. "One hundred and fifty children." She leaned forward in a straightforward manner, her tone implying there was more. "They just called us. They have an opening for Johnny. He fits their profile."

"This sets a bad precedent. "Leann retorted before she could sensor herself it seemed. "We can't afford to send every child to Brooklyn."

"Be real, would you please?" Abby quipped, making the opposite team let out a collective gasp. "That's not going to happen. The bottom line is that only the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Not every parent is going to waltz in here asking the same placement for their child and you all know that." She concluded giving every person in the room the confident look of someone who has won a battle. Additionally, when her eyes met those of the special education director, there was a keen challenge in Abby's gaze reserved just for the woman.

Julie Latimer looked at her notes as she often did when her conscience flared. "We do the best we can for each one of our students with the resources we have." Olivia and Abby then noticed something she took great pains to hide: an edge of vulnerability peeking out like an ill-fitting slip.

Olivia cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her. "Since everything is all clear on our end…Brooklyn has a space reserved for Johnny, we're just waiting for you to draw the paperwork."

"Wait a minute." Julie made eye contact with Rosa Ramirez for the first time during the entire meeting. "Before anything can happen we need to make sure Mrs. Ramirez understands and gives her full consent." She turned to Rosa. "I understand your daughter could not be here today but that you're here representing her wishes, is that correct?"

"Yes, yes," Rosa said after a moment.

Julie then asked the translator who sat in a corner of the conference room to translate everything to Mrs. Ramirez.

"Jane, make sure that Mrs. Ramirez understands that she's agreeing to transferring her grandson to Brooklyn and that includes transportation to and from school."

Jane nodded and proceeded to translate what Olivia had said in rapid fire Spanish. By the end of their exchange both women were grinning and nodding their heads. In the end, Jane reported to everyone that Rosa was in full agreement.

A moment of silence filled the room. Julie, Lisa and Leann exchanged a conspiratorial eye roll while Olivia and Abby gathered their papers. The other people in the room simply stared blankly at one another.

All eyes eventually returned to Julie. Even before the woman spoke, Olivia knew it was over. She doubted the district wanted to risk litigation in this matter when it was obvious the student in question was not receiving the educational benefits to justify minimum requirements.

At last, Julie spoke. "We will have papers signed and ready to be picked up by Monday. In the meantime, we will be expecting Johnny back in school as usual until we receive official enrollment request. "

Abby and Olivia smiled to themselves knowing it was just a formality. The bottom line was that they won. Johnny Ramirez was being transferred to a private school; it was the best placement for him at this point in time. The two women whispered to Rosa they would be needing to talk to her afterwards and then shook hands with everyone in the room.

Before exiting the room, Olivia said: "Ladies, thank you for your time. Thanks to you, Johnny WON'T be the child that falls through the cracks and gets left behind."

…..

Olivia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Battling the system brought in head-throbbing headaches. But she would do it for Teddy in an instant. But Brooklyn was not the appropriate placement for Teddy. Even though Teddy would benefit from one on one attention, he would not thrive in such an environment. What Teddy needed the most was to dwell in a community of his peers—who would become his role models—so that he could learn to form friendships and social relationships.

Right now, Teddy was in a special education class but she was hoping that once Teddy's language skills improved, he would be placed in a regular education classroom.

When Olivia came home that night, Teddy was vacuuming the living room with his Dirt Devil toy vacuum which looked exactly like the adult version but smaller. Vacuums had become his latest obsession to the point of nearly replacing his Thomas and Friends train collection.

Teddy stopped vacuuming as soon as Olivia walked in the door and grinned at her with an expression that said: love-me-I'm-cute . "Mama, Ka-ke-um" he said proudly making full eye contact with her.

"Oh, yes, you're vacuuming." Olivia quickly surveyed the room. "And you're doing a fantastic job!" she crouched down to his level to give him a small hug. She wanted the hug to last longer but Teddy pulled back to turn his attention back on his toy vacuum. "Vrroom, vroom," Teddy mumbled as he continued to vacuum.

"We're here," Fitz called from the sunroom. He and Karen were involved in a game of Uno.

Olivia bridged the distance between them and greeted her husband and daughter with a kiss.

"I made dinner tonight, mommy," Karen beamed.

"Oh, yeah?" Oh, oh. Mac & cheese night.

"I made Macaroni & cheese. It's the best, it's velveeta."

"Hmm," can't wait," Olivia mumbled. She hoped she wouldn't get sick. She'd just recently started being able to stomach most foods. Still, she wasn't completely in the clear. She was still plagued by morning sickness which could happen anytime without warning (well, actually, it usually happened after eating something that didn't agree with her).

After dinner, they spent a little time reading in the family room. Fitz read to the children who were nicely settled on the couch either side of him. Olivia lay resting on the other couch directly across from them.

The book read was Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss. It started like this:

"Imagine a day that begins when you look up in bed over your head, and see something funny: It all began with that shoe on the wall. A shoe on the wall . . . ? It shouldn't be there at all!"

Olivia watched her husband and children with a smile. The book never failed to draw in both children who always had a question or a comment regarding each page. Karen would comment on what was wacky about the page and laugh, inserting her own observations. Even Teddy would stop his father from flipping the page by pointing at something in the picture, indicating he wanted to learn more about it.

"Well, yes. Look at that. There's something wrong with that picture. You say it's the shoe on the ceiling? Yep, that's wacky. I've never seen a shoe on the ceiling like that. Have you?" He asked Teddy who then pointed to the floor by the bed. "Yeah, on the floor. That's were shoes belong."

"It's like Gravity Falls!" Karen interjected. She never missed the opportunity to bring up the Disney TV show her classmates had been talking about at school but that her parents had deemed too scary for her to watch.

"Yeah, well. Gravity Falls is a different type of scary," Fitz replied flipping the page. He knew Karen hated to be told she was too young for certain things but really she didn't know any better, she didn't know there was no point in being in a hurry to grow up…it was going to happen anyway.

Karen

Karen lay in bed with the stuffed animals that Mellie had given her trying to convince her dad who was getting ready to exit the room to read her another book.

"Daddy I can read now, I know how to read." Karen said brightly. Fitz tilted his head in a question mark.

"It's late, K. We don't have time for another book."

"Daddy, please. Just let me show you."

Fitz smiled. "Okay, show me." He mumbled sitting down on the edge of her bed.

She immediately picked up the book and opened it to the first page. "When I was quite young and small for my size, I met an old man in the desert of Drize. And he sang me a song I will never forget. At least well, I haven't forgotten it yet. He sat in a terribly brickly place. But he sang with a sweet smile on his face: when you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad, you should do what I do: just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky! Some people are much more…oh, ever so much more…oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you! It's a troublesome world. All the people who're in it are troubled with troubles almost every minute. You ought to be thankful, a whole heaping lot for all the places and people you're lucky you're not."

Fitz suspected she'd read the whole thing by rote as they'd read the same book so many times. But this was not the time to test her reading skills by choosing a random page for her to read. Besides, it was likely she had the entire book memorized.

"That was fantastic, sweetheart. You're such a good reader. " He said sincerely for he believed she read with the right expression and intonation." He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Goodnight, Duckie. I hope you feel very lucky," he murmured the same words that he'd said to her over the years and that never failed to make her smile. "Because I'm the luckiest daddy in the world to have you as my daughter, you know that?"

Karen beamed, hugging her stuffed animals tighter to her chest. "And I'm much-much more lucky than all the other daughters in the world because you're the best daddy ever!"

Fitz felt his eyes moisten with emotion. He mumbled an "I love you," barely above a whisper before kissing her forehead once again and turning off the lamp beside her bed.

Teddy

After getting him dressed in his footed jammies, Teddy climbed in his toddler bed. Olivia tucked him under the covers and pulled a bean bag alongside his bed and sat down.

Olivia looked on Teddy's face with tenderness as she began singing his favorite lullaby Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star along with the same hand motions Mrs. Delmar used at school.

At first, Teddy tried to duplicate the hand motions but then he soon tired. His expression softened, eyelids drooping. At this point, Olivia continued to sing but without the motions, and stroked his fine hair away from his forehead until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Her little boy looked suddenly so grown up as he closed his eyes and went to sleep. His birthday was just around the corner. He would be turning three years old on May 15th which in school terms it meant he would be officially a pre-schooler. The plan was for Teddy to finish the school year and then transfer from his infant/toddler class to a special education preschool classroom in the fall.

"How did it go at the IEP?" Fitz finally had a chance to ask now that the kids were in bed and they were getting ready for bed.

"It went well considering," Olivia answered drawing her nightgown over her head. As she slipped into it, Fitz noticed the tiny swell of her belly which was still too small to be seen when she was lying down in bed. "You should have seen their faces when they heard that Brooklyn had a spot for Johnny already, they couldn't believe it."

Fitz gave her a small smile. "Well, if it hadn't been for you pulling a few strings," he said pulling the covers back and climbing in bed. Olivia followed suit.

"No I didn't. It just happened," she smiled a self-satisfied smile, her head on the pillow.

"Johnny was lucky to have you and Abby on his team," he said right before he took her into his arms and kissed her. He then pushed up her gown a bit so that her belly was exposed. She giggled.

"How is our little one doing today?"

"Today was a good day, he ate well.

He smiled appreciatively, leaning down to press his mouth to the curve of her belly. The swell was hardly noticeable but it was firm, evidence of the child she sheltered within her body. He'd never seen such a beautiful sight. He was captivated and wholly entranced. He could literally spend hours stroking her silky skin and enjoying the beauty of this amazing woman that carried his child.

"I was able to re-schedule my sonogram appointment for next Wednesday at 5:00 pm."

"Oh, good. I can make that."

Olivia was pleased to hear that. Suddenly, her eyes grew wider as she felt something she'd never felt before. "Fitz…I feel something…something fleeting." It was too early to feel the baby moving, she thought.

Fitz pressed his hand to her belly and kept it there. He couldn't feel a thing but her word was good enough to fill him with excitement.

She gasped. This time she was sure there was something. She locked eyes with Fitz. They were both residing in a bubble of happiness, wondering about their little one—and which traits he or she would inherit from them both.

"I think she will be tall like Karen but with dark curly hair."

Fitz was smiling, still caressing her baby bump when he felt the most fleeting movement. This time he'd definitely felt the baby moving. He was so overcome with emotion that tears welled in his eyes. Wow, and to think this is only the beginning and he was already so emotional. The thought of watching her belly grow rounder as their baby grew inside her womb totally blew him away. He could vividly picture her cradling their sweet baby while their other children raced around the house and yard.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead tenderly propped himself up on one elbow watching her. She curled her arms and legs around him and her head on a pillow. They stayed in this position for a few minutes in comfortable silence.

"Fitz… about the ultrasound…I really want you to reconsider." She asked after a while.

His placid smile vanished as he recalled last night's conversation. They were at an impasse. She wanted to learn the sex of the baby and he didn't.

"I still think we've best wait the old fashioned way. It's more exciting that way."

Olivia took a deep breath and let it out a sigh. "I can't bear it, the not knowing. Just the thought of waiting six long months to find out. How can you stand it?"

A/N: Even though Olivia used the Son-Rise method when she worked with Teddy, in Johnny's IEP meeting, she advocated for ABA & floortime methods because these are the methods commonly employed and accepted.

Stay tuned, I still have more planned for this story. Next up, ultrasound appointment and a time jump. Please bear with me, I'm currently writing too many stories so If I take too long to come back, just call me, ok? I'm only one phone call away :)