Riley, Auggie, and their dad were sitting at the kitchen table making cut out holiday cookies. Or at least, Riley was cutting them out into shapes, and Auggie was decorating the ones that their mom had already baked. Their dad was eating more cookies than he was decorating.

"You need to stop!" Topanga swatted her husband with the back of a rubber spatula as he reached for his fifth cookie.

Riley and Auggie shared a smile.

'Is Maya coming over?' He signed with one hand as he changed frosting colors, watching Riley's response out of the corner of his eyes.

'No,' Riley signed. 'She's out with Josh.'

'How's that going?' Auggie questioned with a small smirk, emphasizing the sign 'that' with a significant motion of his hand.

'Don't give me that tone,' Riley signed back, rolling her eyes. 'They're fine.'

'It's weird.'

'Yeah,' Riley agreed. 'But Maya's happy, isn't she?'

"Auggie," Topanga asked painfully.

"We're talking about Maya and Josh," Auggie answered the question his mom didn't have to ask.

"Yes, I saw Maya's sign," Topanga informed him. "What about them?"

"Maya and Josh are dating and it's weird."

'But they're happy,' Riley protested, and she saw the recognition in her mom's eyes that she had understood the three-sign-sentence.

"Maya's underaged," Cory frowned, using the sign 'young'.

'Maya's 16,' Riley countered.

"And Josh is 19."

"Dad," Auggie cut in, "just eat another cookie." He dropped his signing to say, "You're reprimanding the wrong person."

Cory dropped the topic, still looking a little uncertain.

'These are done,' Riley signed, holding the pan of prepared cookies to her mom to put in the oven.

'Thank you,' her mom signed as she took the pan from her with a smile.

The year was off to a great start already, in Maya's opinion. She and Josh had gone to a movie on New Years Day, she'd had dinner with her parents, and so far the break had been fairly drama-free. She was on a high, accepting hope for once in her life, and it felt good. Everyone in her life was happy - her, her mom and stepdad, her best friend. She and Riley even had a double date planned in a few days.

Maya was painting in her room when her phone started to ring, and she swiveled around in her chair and strained over the bed to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Lucas asked.

"Depends what the favor is," Maya drawled, putting her phone on speaker as she went back to painting.

"My mom wants to invite Riley over for dinner with my family, and I want to be the best I can at signing," Lucas explained. "Would you be willing to meet for a signing lesson in a couple hours?"

Maya glanced at the clock on her desk and shrugged. "Sure, how does 1pm sound?"

"Perfect," Lucas replied, relief evident in his voice. "I really appreciate this Maya."

"Mhmm, see you soon," Maya hummed, clicking the button to hang up.

"Thanks for humoring me," Lucas admitted as Maya let him into her apartment a few minutes after 1pm. "I just wanted to be able to interpret the best I can for this. My mom's really excited. She likes Riley a lot."

"She only met her once," Maya smiled.

"You only need one meeting to fall in love with Riley's smile."

"True." Maya opened her laptop. "So do you want to just go over the general signs, or do you have a topic in mind?"

"Just anything you think I might need for a dinner conversation," Lucas stated.

Maya shrugged. "Alright, so fingerspell your family's names to me." She watched as he flew through his parents' names at a medium pace. "You're really good at signing now," Maya commented, noticing his form. "I don't even know if you need me anymore."

"Nope, I definitely still need these lessons," Lucas contradicted, laughing a little. "I'm not perfect yet; I just know what I need. I want to know everything." He paused. "Even if Riley does get a cochlear implant."

Maya's eyes widened, and she clapped the laptop shut. "What?"

Lucas stared at her, immediately realizing, "You didn't know."

Maya's lips parted a little, her mind spinning through several worlds of ideas. Riley, getting a cochlear implant and being able to hear. Riley, having to deal with recovery and frustration of talking, after everything speech therapy put her through. Riley, telling Lucas any of this before she told her best friend.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Lucas rushed out, looking frantic. "I didn't know you didn't know, I thought she had already told you a long time ago."

Maya's eyes snapped back to Lucas's. "How long ago, exactly?"

Lucas shifted uncomfortably. "Maya, it's obviously not my story to-"

"Friar," Maya's eyes narrowed, "cat's out of the bag. How long?"

Lucas swallowed guiltily. "She told me her mom offered the option back in the beginning of the school year."

Maya sat back in her seat, breathing out softly. Months. Riley had been thinking about this for at least four months, and she hadn't even told Maya.

"Is she going to get it?" Maya asked.

"She doesn't know yet," Lucas admitted. "We had a conversation about all the things she was thinking about, and I told her I'd support her either way, in any way I can."

"Does she think I won't?" Maya asked quietly, a little hurt. They didn't keep secrets from each other.

Well, Maya had.

"I think she's still struggling with it," Lucas said. "Please don't tell her I told you?"

"I have to talk to her about this," Maya shot back. "It's huge."

"If she didn't tell you yet, it's because she's not ready to talk to you about it," Lucas pointed out. "Let her come to you when she is."

"Fine," Maya gave in, opening her laptop again. "Where were we?"

A/N: So that's my Anecdoche drama for the week. It's a short chapter but I think it's interesting. Sorry it's been so long since I updated this story. School kicked my ass and I was blocked after the New Years chapter.

I wrote this bit a few months ago and had to wait for the right time to put it in. Maya's obviously feeling a little betrayed right now, and Riley doesn't know how to approach the topic. She'll get there though. I still haven't decided whether Riley will get the cochlear or not (she and I have that in common!) so we shall see.

Absolutely no clue when the next chapter will come out. Maybe today, maybe in several months. Sorry for my dedicated readers :( you know I love you guys, but unfortunately I have a real life outside of fanfiction.

Reviews would be great!

Kisses,

C