Chapter One; Cassie's New Friend

Today was a big day for all of my children. Peter, Nathan, and Cassie were going back for their first day of school while I took Jane out to get her ears pierced. Since she didn't go back until another few weeks (she was going to be in her first year at Hogwarts) we were having a very special Daddy daughter day. I had promised her that since she was now the appropriate age that her mother and I had decided on, we would go to the mall to get her ears done.

Then we would eat lunch there and then I would take her bowling before we went back home. Even though I knew that she was extremely excited about our day today, I could also tell that she was extremely nervous. That's when suddenly Jack came into the back of the line carrying his baby girl Susie who was now almost a year old.

"Uncle Jack?" Jane began. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey kiddo, I see you're spending some time alone with your dad." He told her with a grin.

"Yes we're spending the whole entire day together." I told him happily.

"So are we. Sarah's at work and Joshua's in school so I figured that I'd take little Susie to get her ears pierced today." He explained.

"What!?" Jane exclaimed. "But she's only a baby!"

"I know, but Sarah and I thought that it would be kind of cute if she got her ears pierced." He said.

"Well I hope you guys are aware that you're going to have to be the ones cleaning them so she doesn't get an infection since she can't do it herself yet." I pointed out.

"C'mon Dad this isn't fair!" Jane cried.

"As Dodger once told Oliver in the movie Oliver and Company, fairs are for tourists." I told her as she made a disgusted face at me. That's when suddenly Susie started to fuss.

"Uh oh, it looks like this little tike is a little bit apprehensive about the whole ordeal. I'll be right back after I give her a changing." He said before he walked away.

"What the heck was he talking about?" Jane asked me with an utter state of confusion.

"He was just joking that she must be nervous about getting her ears pierced since she made a messy in her nappy." I explained.

"Dad, is this going to hurt?" she asked me.

"Only for a second, but I'm sure that you can handle it since you're a big girl now." I told her as I smiled down at her before the line started to move.

Meanwhile Nathan's and Cassie's bus had just arrived in front of the school. Just as they had been getting off of it with the rest of the kids they ran into somebody that she had never seen before. It was a little red haired girl around their age but a couple years older than Cassie. She also had skin as white as snow and light blue-green eyes.

A dog was leading her and it was a beautiful blueish-grey color with a little bit of brown and white mixed in and wearing a blue vest. It was the most beautiful dog Cassie had ever seen, although she wondered why it had one brown eye and one blue eye. There couldn't possibly be another time dog in her neighborhood could there?

"Hi." Cassie said as the other girl smiled and nodded at her with a tiny wave of her left hand. "I like your dog, what's his name?" she asked her when suddenly the other girl touched her cheek twice with her index finger. "Oh, I see. She's a girl." She began.

"What?" Nathan wondered.

"She's deaf so she's using sign language to communicate with us." Cassie explained to him. "So that's why you have a dog with you right?" she questioned as the other girl smiled and nodded at her again.

"If she's deaf then how can she hear what we're saying?" Nathan asked.

"A lot of deaf people can learn to read lips as well as sign language." Cassie began. "Which is good because I only know a little bit of it." She finished. "What's your name?" she asked the other girl in which she started spelling out a M then an o, and after that a n, then an i, and then next a c, and finally an a with her fingers. "Monica." Cassie realized.

"Wow, that's a really pretty name. My name is Cassie." She told her as she did her best to spell it out. "What's your dog's name?" she asked her as she stuck out her index and middle finger and moved her hand from side to side. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know that one." She said as she breathed a sad sigh.

Monica grabbed a note pad out of her back pocket and scribbled a word down with her pen before she showed it to her of what she had written "Sugar." She read. "Hi Sugar," she began as she bent down and the dog started wagging her tail excitedly. "Can I pet her?" she questioned as she glanced up at the other girl who smiled and nodded at her.

"Thanks, she's so sweet." Cassie said as she started to stroke the top of her head and she giggled as the dog licked her face. "Why does she have different colored eyes though?" Cassie wondered when suddenly the bell rang. "I'm sorry my foster brother and I have got to go." She began as she slowly looked stood back up. "Do you want to be friends?" she asked as she clasped her hands together and moved them up and down in front of her chest.

Monica smiled and nodded at her. "Great! We'll sit together at lunch and play together at recess. See you later!" Cassie cried with a wave as Monica waved back at her before she watched them walk inside the building together.