Cassie walks back into the living room to find Aaliyah doing circles around her broken leg with the good one.
"Don't walk on it!" Olivia says with distress, trying to get the girl to stop without actually touching her.
Jayla is making her hungry whining noise, probably because she didn't eat anything at the hospital when the rest of them did. Keisha is just staring up at her with big scared eyes which seems to indicate that she knows more about the whole business than the other two.
"Let's go get you some food, huh? Crackers?" she asks the little girl who nods.
"They're staying with us for a while, aren't they?" Olivia says meaningfully.
"I'll be moving out before too long."
"What, so you get dad to take them in, and then you take off? When are you going to grow up?" Olivia sneers, forgetting to be subtle around the young children.
"The children and I are all going to leave. I'm the one that's adopting them," Cassie whispers.
Olivia stares at her sister. Was it possible that her sister had grown up without her noticing it? Was this what growing up looked like? Or was this this another one of her sister's crazy plans that was going to break the heart of everyone around her?
"I can feed her, if you like," Olivia says, picking up the girl; was it a niece, then? She felt pretty young to have a niece.
"Thank you," Cassie says, putting her arms around Liyah, and the small child melts into her arms.
The Next Day
"We've got a team coming over tonight, do you want me to cancel?" Daniel says.
"You still think I'm going to change my mind about keeping them?" Cassie says, stating the only reason her confused mind can grasp for him not wanting to introduce people to her kids.
"I wondering how well the kids are going to handle it," Daniel says looking at his… granddaughter, who sat down on the floor, and started rocking back and forth the minute he entered the room. That is only one unfamiliar person, he can't imagine what would happen if there was a whole house full of unfamiliar people.
"It will be ok; if she gets too overwhelmed, we can go somewhere by ourselves. They are her family now, she might as well meet them."
-0-
"Jack, I haven't got a whole lot of time. I just wanted to call and warn you, and I would like it if you could pass the word on to the rest of the families," Daniel whispers on the phone.
"Ok, what is with all the secrecy?"
"Cassie would kill me if I told you. I'm a grandpa."
"What? I didn't' even know that Cassie was dating someone. Do I have to kick someone's butt?"
"No, she's not pregnant, thank God. She has been spending a lot of time with some kids. They belong to the person that she works with. That woman died in a car accident yesterday. Cassie is taking them in."
"Did you tell her she's too young to have kids?"
"She's too old to be told, Jack."
There is a long pause. "Well, Danny-boy, when we first met I would have bet that I'd be a grandpa a long time before you were."
"True, but the surprises have always been the best part of my life," Daniel says.
-0-
Jayla is a natural-born star. She is passed from lap to lap, playing patty cake and getting her stomach tickled. Aaliyah refuses to make eye contact or a sound, but she does remain pretty calm, except for the two occasions when Cassie goes out of her sight. Then she threw a tantrum.
Keisha doesn't want to be near Cassie, but she also doesn't want to be alone. Olivia goes over, and sits next to her.
"Hi."
"You're Cassie's sister?" the girl asks, in a voice that is only a half-step above a whisper.
"I am."
"I have sisters," the girl says.
"I know; they're very nice. You're very nice, too."
"Where is Cassie's mom?" the girl asks.
Everyone knew about Janet. It had been whispered around school before she'd gone back, and everyone associated with the SG-C before, "Our mother died, a while ago."
"Where is my mother?" Keisha says. Olivia looks into her eyes to see if she can get away with a lie without losing the little girl's faith. She can see that the girl has seen too much. She was in the car accident. She already knows what happened to her mother.
"She died, too," Olivia says.
A silent tear rolls down the girl's cheek, "How long until she stops being dead?"
"Never, honey; your mother is never going to come back," Olivia says softly.
"Why?"
Olivia is surprised by such a grown-up question form such a little girl. She doesn't try to answer it, because she knows that better people than her have tried and failed. She just takes the girl onto her lap, and holds her as she starts to cry.
Cassie comes quickly over. "What's wrong, honey?" But just than Liyah starts to wail (this was one of the two times Cassie got out of her sight). She looks apologetic, and the runs across the yard.
She didn't need to run, though, because Rya'c is already taking care of it. He has picked the little girl up, and his tossing her lightly in the air.
"She has a broken leg," Cassie scolds, taking the girl back.
"Motion is good for the development of motor skills; besides, a bit of flying through the air might keep her from trying to walk on it."
Liyah reaches her hand out to Rya'c, obviously wanting more of the fun, rather than staying in her stern guardian's grip.
"She likes you," Cassie says, surprised.
"Children often do," Rya'c says not, realizing that this is the kind of comment that most people would describe as prideful.
"You ever thought of babysitting?" Cassie says, almost as a joke. It's based on a real problem though, she's realized, ever since she first decided to take on the care of the children, that she is going to have to do something with them when she goes back to work. Her boss was nice enough to give her a week off in the wake of the tragedy, generous since it had caused almost as much chaos at work as at home, but she would have to go back. She was counting on her father to provide her with help, too, but he had a job, and she didn't want to rely on him forever.
"I have often considered securing some employment to offset the cost of my continuing education now that the children of my house are growing older, and the need for me is not as desperate at home as it has been on previous occasions."
"You're serious? You actually want a job?" she asks, allowing the squirming child to return to his arms. Aaliyah likes him, and she doesn't like just anyone. If he's actually willing, it would be amazing. Not everyone is willing to look after a child with a disability, and this would be very much like keeping it all in the family.
"Indeed; provided it would only be part time work. I need to maintain my grades, and continue to aid with the rearing of the twins until Tam and Bec are old enough to take over all of the responsibilities that I once had. I will have more time to devote to the job during the summer months after my graduation."
"That will be perfect, because Liyah will be out of school then. The other two I can take with me to check in with work if I really need to, but…"
"I understand," he says, smiling at the girl as she tugs at his arm when he stops swinging her.
"Ry'ac, what do they do with people with disabilities on your planet?" she asks.
"The Goa'uld heals most of the things which the people of Earth consider to be disabilities," he replies.
"Right, of course," she says, trying to imagine a world without blindness, or deafness, autism, mental illness, or even a broken leg.
"It is a colorless existence," he says.
The Next Day
Cassie wasn't sure if she should even bring the girl into school already. It had only been three days since her mother had died. She wasn't actually sure if the girl was capable of understanding something as abstract as death. Of course, Aaliyah knew that her mother wasn't with her, and that she hadn't been with her for a while. She probably had some understanding that her mother was injured and in pain, based on what she had seen during the car crash. Cassie just wasn't sure that you could understand something as abstract as death without having command of words, or some symbolic method of communication.
Perhaps, when enough time had passed, she would come to understand it, but Cassie secretly hoped not.
She carried Aaliyah into the school fireman-style. She had crutches, but no matter what she tried, she hadn't been able to get the girl to use them. If she was set down on her feet, inevitably she would just walk on her cast. Cassie has foreseen this problem, and asked the doctor about it. Just as she had suspected, it would result in a complicated healing time as well as the possibility of more time in the cast, both things that Cassie wanted to avoid.
She gets stares from other parents, but she doesn't care. She walks into the front office, being careful not to bump Liyah's legs against anything as she goes.
"I'm sorry, do you know where the special education room is?" she asks, her cheeks turning red and the utter ridiculous position she finds herself in. She's glad that Daniel had the day off, and is home with the younger girl's right now. This would be too much with them in tow.
The secretary gives her directions, and she walks down the hallway to a comfortable little room. A women who looks like she is just out of high school greets the little girl by saying, "Liyah! Liyah!"
The girl replies "Aa! Aa!" It's the closest thing to speech that she has heard since she met the girl, and she wonders what other magic happens in the school room.
"What happened, Liyah?" another women says from across the room.
Cassie feels awkward that the question is aimed at someone who isn't going to answer, "She broke her leg. There was a car accident… I'd like to share the rest with you in private, if that's possible."
The second woman nods, and leads her into a small room which contains little more than a desk, and phone.
"Aaliyah's mother died on Friday. I'm taking care of her and her two little sisters now," Cassie practically whispers when the door is shut.
"I am so sorry for your loss," the women says.
Cassie stiffens. All this time, she hadn't been thinking very much about HER loss. She had been thinking about the little girls' loss, but it was her lose, too, after a fashion, wasn't it?
"Thank you. I wasn't sure if I should bring her to school today or not. Really, I'm not sure how much she understands what happens to her. I'm sorry about carrying her in. I know that isn't proper, but she won't use the crutches, and really I don't know what else to do."
"It's all right," the women says with a smile, "I think we have a spare wheelchair downtown at the special education office that we could use until she learns to use her crutches or heals."
"I didn't think of that," Cassie says, sounding despondent.
"I went to four years of college to think of things like that. I know you must be really busy, but we usually do a sort of introduction for parents when they first come in. Explain how we work around here. Is there a time that would work for you?"
"I'm free now, but I'm sure you need time to plan…." Cassie begins.
"Now is perfect, have you ever heard of the PECS system?" the teacher asks.
Cassie shakes her head.
"It's a method of communicating for individuals that don't have a lot of language. Aaliyah uses it at school. We sent a system home, but I don't think the family was able to use it much. Would you be interested in one?"
"I don't want to put you through the trouble, I could probably find it in their apartment," Cassie says even though her stomach sinks at looking through the things there. It's a task that she is only going to be able to put off for two more week though, at least unless she's willing to pay rent on it, or worse yet, live there. The place is small, and dirty, and in the bad part of town. The real reason Cassie doesn't want to live there though, is because she feels like the place is haunted by a metaphorical ghost.
"It's not that much trouble. It's all on the computer. It will only take a bit of work to put it together. I'll send it home in a couple of days. For now, I want to give you a chance to see the system in action."
Aaliyah is ruffling through a binder full of pieces of paper Velcroed to fabric. She pulls them off one by one, and sticks them on to another piece of Velcro, which she hands to one of the other women in the room.
"You want a teddy bear?" the women asks, again pausing as if she expects Aaliyah to respond. They do know that she can't talk, right? Cassie asks herself.
It's as if the teacher reads her mind, "Acting as if you expect a non-verbal child to talk is one of the best ways of increasing the chances that they will talk. Of course, while we're waiting for her to speak, we're also giving her other methods to communicate. That's what the PECS system is for – using pictures to ask for things. It prevents a lot of behaviors like tantrums. If you can't ask for what you need any other way, you are going to do it with behavior."
The worker has handed over a teddy bear in the absence of Aaliyah asking for it. Then she asks, "What do you have?"
Aaliyah reaches over, and touches the picture on the strip which is s till in the hand of the worker.
"You have a teddy bear? Fuzzy teddy bear."
The teacher walks up with a different strip. It has three places to attach a Velcro picture under each is written the words "first" "next" "then". The teacher picks a picture labeled "circle time" to put in the first box, one labeled "book" to put in the second, and puts one labeled "worksheet" in the third.
She points to each box, and says them. Then she hands Aaliyah her crutches. The girl actually stands up and attempts to use them. Although it's a clumsy attempt, it's the best she's had since she got them.
"She listens really well to you," Cassie says in awe.
"It's only, because I'm speaking her native language of images," the teacher says, pointing to the pictures, "If you do, she'll listen just as well to you. What we just did was called a picture schedule. Kids with autism get really nervous when unexpected things happen. When you give them a list of events in a way they can understand it really helps them out. When it's the same list as it was a day before that helps them even more."
Liyah has joined the circle of kids, and much to Cassie's amazement is singing a song which puts the months of the year to the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
"I didn't think she'd ever said a word," Cassie says in shock.
"Oh, she loves singing!" the teacher says with glee. "She can memorize just about anything if you give it to her in the form of a song. Watch this," the teacher says, going over by Liyah.
"Who are you?" the teacher sings.
"Aaliyah," she answers back.
"How old are you?" the teacher sings to a different note.
"Six," she answers.
On, and one the exchanges went, giving address, phone number, and her classroom in the school.
"That's amazing! I've known her for almost a year, and I didn't know she was capable of anything like that."
"The fact that she can repeat back something that she's heard a bunch of times doesn't actually mean that she's understanding any of it, and most of this developed in the last couple of months."
Cassie spent most of the morning in the classroom of the girl she was just beginning to think about as her daughter. When she left she had yet one more ball to juggle – that of her daughter's private therapist. After that, most of what she said was in song. After that, she was always waiting for answers she knew she would not get. After that, she was always slowing down to get a response from a little Velcro book before they did anything (animal crackers fed one by one, waiting for the picture "more").
After that, Liyah found her voice.