Alan
Thankfully, some seats in the middle of the bus had just gotten empty. We quickly took them. After getting off and taking another bus we arrived at Union Station, from where we could take the metrolink, a commuter train. I wanted Rach to also experience being on a train.
Seeing her suffer has been very heartbreaking for everyone especially me and Nat. She blamed herself for not being there. I've told her that it's not her fault. However, I inwardly blamed myself. If I had been quicker in seeing her fall, and calling Don, it would have been a near miss that we'd all remember years later.
It's hard to see Rach get frustrated, when she falls, or having more trouble doing something because of her inability to see, especially since she was still so young. However, Bob's coming over, seems to have given us hope. He liked my idea of taking her on public transportation, when I called him about it to ask for advice on how to make it educational.
"Do it often enough so that she gets used to it." he had advised.
Nat's over protectiveness had increased since the accident, though to her credit, she tried to be cheerful and soothing in front of Rach. I was more overprotective too, but it was tempered by my experience with Charlie.
Rach liked being on the train. I had her hold a ticket to give her a feel for what it was, but soon had to take it away when she tried to put it into her mouth.
"You don't wanna eat that!" I told her gently. "It's yucky!"
"Not to mention that it could cost Dad two hundred and fifty dollars" Charlie joked.
"Apa!" she said. Nat stroked her black curly hair.
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Before we knew it, it was time for the second lesson, This time, it was just me, Nat, and Charlie.
"Hello Rach! Remember me?" Bob bent down to greet her when he had said hi to us. She played with some toys.
"ipa?" she seemed confused. While Rach was wary of unfamiliar voices, they didn't scare her as long as she was surrounded by family and didn't get poked and prodded like she was in the hospital.
"Today, I'm gonna give you a new toy!"
"Ah?" she brightened at the word, 'toy', as usual with her wonderful smile.
"It's a cane! It's gonna help you walk." He tapped it on the coffee table.
"Ata!" she bluntly requested for what she thought was a toy.
"It's a few centimeters too long" Charlie complained. Why am I not surprised that he calculated the ideal length for her?
"It's more of a pre cane, to get her used to to the idea." Bob explained to him diplomatically and gave it to her. It had pvc pipe at the bottom, rolled, made noise, and was like a square hula hoop.
She, of course, put the top of it in her mouth.
"Okay..Rach...Let's go outside! Won't that be fun?" he sounded cheerful.
We all went outside. Bob asked us to take off her shoes, which I did. Putting his hand under her wrist, he had her touch the grass, which she sat on.
"This is grass, feel how soft it is?" he asked. Rach's hand tried to pull out, and he let it go. She touched it on her own, got a handful, and tried to put it in her mouth.
"Rach! No!" Nat got it from her.
Then, with Bob's guidance, Rach dragged the precane on the grass, then the cement.
"See...doesn't it feel different?" he asked her gently.
He did the same thing with various things outside, such as trees, our fence, etc. Then, the lesson ended.
"Bye Rach! See you next time!" Bob told her.
Soon after he left, Rach started to get fussy and I put her down for a nap. I had a meeting in an hour, and it was Nat's day off. I kissed my wife goodbye, thanked Charlie for coming, and went to my office.
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Two weeks later, when I went to pick Rach up, Belinda, Gina's mother told me when I came in.
"Rachael's become progressively aggressive"
"How?" I worried, and made a note to scold her.
"She and Kate. fought over the precane. Rachael kinda uses more it when she walks, and kate was curious about it. ...the thing is, she just hit her right away."she looked serious. My daughter has become more possesive of things, as she hated having her belongings out of her hands, and she seems a bit impatient at times. However, being unable to see did not give her the right to hurt others.
"I'm so sorry! My wife and I are taking care of this." I apologized, but then, I noticed Kate throwing stuff at Rach, as did Belinda.
"Kate!" she began to scold. "Stop at once! No!"
Rach just looked annoyed and confused. She's got quite an expressive face, like Charlie did at her age. She said "Oopfa!"
"Hey Rach! It's Dad!" I told her cheerfully. She smiled and held her arms up. I lifted her from the floor. I thanked Belinda, had Rach say goodbye to Kate, and went home.
Nate was to come home late, so I prepared to make something for just me and Rach, until Don came in.
"Hey guys!" he told us and went to the floor, where Rach played. "Hi Kiddo! It's Don!"
"Jata!" she told him.
"How's my favorite sis?" he asked.
"She hit Kate again" I told him from the kitchen doorway.
"Why'd you do that?" Don turned the question to her.
"They fought over Rach's precane." I said to him.
A while after dinner, it was time for her milk. So I put it in the sippy cup, yet again she refused to drink from it. I had been trying to retrain her when Nat, who was adamant that for now, the bottle was okay, wasn't home. My wife wanted her to stay on the bottle because of what happened. Not being able to see, doesn't change the fact that staying too long on the bottle could be bad for Rach's teeth.
"Just let her use the bottle, Dad" Don suggested, as yet again Rach pushed the sippy cup away with lots of adamant baby talk.
Finally, after I put some ice cream on nipple of the sippy cup, she, with my help drank a bit from it. Little by little, the sippy cup turned half empty. Before I could wash and put the thing away, Natalie came in through the door, and saw it in my hands.
TBC
