Warning: This story contains spoilers for all seasons of Switched at Birth, as well as both seasons of Everything's Gonna Be Okay. (And possibly also for a certain show whose identity I won't spoil yet.)

Also, several notes:

-Even though this story takes place in late 2021, which would place it in the later stages of the COVID pandemic, I won't be referring to COVID or any of the changes to society it caused in this story. Even though Everything's Gonna Be Okay made reference to COVID a few times, and Switched at Birth is the kind of show that probably would have done so as well if it had stayed on the air long enough, it would cause too many problems for the plot to include COVID in the story. The story's main focus is parodying/poking lighthearted fun at both of the Freeform shows referenced above, and bringing COVID into it would interfere with that goal.

-If you notice me switching back and forth between the American and British spellings of words, it's not because I'm a citizen of two countries, lol. It's because I'm trying to use the British spellings when the British characters (e.g. Lily) speak, and Australian spellings when the Australian characters (e.g. Nicholas) speak, and American spellings everywhere else. That being said, I can't promise I won't make mistakes from time to time, and I apologize if I do.

-Even though this fan fic takes place after the end of Everything's Gonna Be Okay, after Nicholas and Alex break up, they are back together in this story. I thought it would be easier for the flow of the story (and the humor) to do that. But I couldn't find a good place in the story to insert an explanation of why or how they got back together. In any case, yes, they're back together in this story.

-As a general rule, whenever at least one character who can interpret between English and ASL is present (which is true for pretty much the entire story), the Deaf characters are able to communicate with the non-ASL hearing characters, and vice versa, even if I don't explicitly indicate that interpretation is occurring in a given scene. I will note any instances where there is a language barrier. Otherwise, as a general rule, there is no language barrier as long as at least one bilingual character is present.

-Disclaimer: I am not deaf, so as a result I don't have any firsthand experience about what it's like to be deaf. I do know certain things about Deaf culture from watching Switched at Birth, but since I am not deaf myself and am no expert on Deaf culture, I will try my best to steer clear of assumptions about deaf life or Deaf culture. I apologize if I make any mistakes in this regard.

I am, however, autistic, so I do know firsthand what it's like to be autistic. As a result, I feel decently comfortable narrating scenes where Matilda's autism is an important plot point. But again, the main focus of this story is an affectionate parody of both shows (and of the other show that's yet to be named) and the differences in tone between the shows, not a serious discussion of what it's like to be autistic or deaf or an attempt to steal/appropriate deafness (with either a capital or lowercase D) in any way. If anybody feels differently and is offended by the use of deaf characters in this story, then please let me know and I will either delete the story or (if possible) edit it to address any concerns.

I do encourage you to do what you can to learn about both autistic culture and Deaf culture, so that you can better understand what it's like to be autistic or deaf/Deaf. (I personally tried to while writing this story.) Please like, comment on, and follow any fan fics written by Deaf writers. And since comedy/parody is such a big part of this story, I also strongly encourage you to look up Deaf comedians, and follow them on social media if possible. There is a great article in the Guardian from 2008 about a British Deaf comedian named John Smith, and videos on YouTube of an American deaf comedian named Hayden Kristal who competed on America's Got Talent, and another Deaf comedian on Youtube named Jessica Flores, among others. Please support any Deaf comedians you come across and follow them on social media if you can.

With all that out of the way, enjoy the story!

It was the spring of 2021. Bay had just gotten a text from Emmett that made her heart skip a beat. "Guys! Guess what!" she said to John, Kathryn, Toby, and Daphne. "Emmett just got accepted into USC! He's coming back to the US in the fall! And guess who's planning to go visit LA the first week of September." Everyone's faces lit up upon hearing this.

"Awww, honey, that's great!" said Kathryn.

"That's amazing!" said John.

"Great!" said Daphne.

"Awesome!" said Toby.

"And you're all invited to come!" said Bay.

"I'd love to come!" said Daphne. "Let me check if Mingo's free that week."

"I'd also love to, depending if Lily needs me to take care of Carlton that week," said Toby.

"Or, I have a better idea: the three of you could come with us!" said Bay.

"That is true! I'll talk to her and ask her." He then added, "Just be sure to steer clear of that Skye girl, huh?"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice!"

"We'd love to come, honey," said Kathryn, "but we're working that week. But have fun! And let me know how LA is."

"Will do!" said Bay.

That September, Bay went to LA to see Emmett, and Daphne, Toby, Lily, and Carlton all came along. Needless to say, Bay was excited to see Emmett again.

She had arranged to meet Emmett on USC's campus. When they saw each other, they hugged.

"Hey Emmett! How have you been? It's nice to see you again after so long!" said Bay.

"Not too bad. Japan was amazing," said Emmett. "What about you? It sounds like you're keeping your long-distance relationship going with Travis."

"Yes indeed! Hey, wanna go get some ice cream? I told Toby and Daphne I'd meet them at Bob's Ice Cream Shop."

"You know me, I'd never turn down ice cream."

"Great! Let's go!"

On the way to the ice cream place, Bay got hit in the face with a pie, thrown by none other than Nicholas (yes, that Nicholas), who was with Matilda, Genevieve, Drea, and Alex. Emmett couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"What the hell?!" said Bay.

"Babe, we've talked about this already: no practical jokes on strangers," said Alex.

"But it's funny!" said Nicholas.

"Funny for you maybe, but what about this poor girl here?"

"She probably thinks it's funny too!" He turned to Bay and said, "Don't you think it's funny?"

"I'm calling the cops on you," Bay replied angrily.

"Whoa, whoa, no need to do that! It was just a joke! And besides, do you really want to send me to jail? I have to take care of my two half-sisters here! If I go to jail, they'll go homeless, and they'll probably end up on the streets begging for money, and then they'll get forced to work for a crime lord like in Oliver Twist, and then they'll be begging him for gruel every day, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"Nicholas, let me handle this," said Genevieve. She turned to Bay and said, "I'm really sorry about my brother. He's really goofy, and a bit eccentric, but he means well, I swear."

"Tell that to the banana cream dripping off my face!"

"I'm allergic to bananas," said Drea. "And cream."

"No offense, Drea," said Matilda, "but is there anything you aren't allergic to?"

"Look," Genevieve said to Bay, "we'll clean your face off, and we'll buy you a coffee."

Bay was reluctant but agreed. "Fine. But we're getting ice cream, because that's where we were on our way to before Groucho Marx here decided it would be funny to shove a pie in my face!"

"Hey now!" said Nicholas. "I resemble that remark!" Matilda, Genevieve, Drea, Alex, and Emmett all laughed.

After everybody met at Bob's for ice cream, the characters from Switched at Birth and the characters from Everything's Gonna Be Okay explained to each other their respective stories. Because Alex knew ASL, he was able to help Bay, Toby, and Lily translate between English and ASL.

"So let me get this straight," said Nicholas, "the two of you were switched at birth, and Daphne's parents became suspicious she may not actually be related to them after all, and they had a DNA test done and found out she wasn't their daughter, and then her dad accused her mum of cheating on him and left her, but Bay didn't find out until she did a DNA test in high school, which led to a custody battle between Bay's parents and Daphne's mum, but then later they all make amends and Daphne's mum moved in with Bay's parents and both sets of parents agree to essentially share Bay and Daphne, right?" He paused for a beat before saying in a joking tone of voice, "Seems simple enough!"

"Tell me about it," Bay replied snarkily.

"So wait," Daphne said to Matilda, "you got into Juilliard?! And you turned them down?! Who turns down Juilliard? Isn't that like turning down Harvard or Yale?"

"I wasn't ready to live on my own yet," said Matilda. "But after living with Drea for the last few months, I'm getting more used to it."

"Let me guess," said Nicholas, "the real reason you turned down Juilliard is because you couldn't get enough of me, right?" Matilda, Genevieve, Drea, and Alex all laughed.

"Sure, because Nicholas has absolutely no character flaws whatsoever," Bay said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"Are you being sarcastic?" said Drea. "It's sometimes hard for me to pick up on sarcasm."

Matilda rolled her eyes and sighed, and said in an annoyed tone of voice, "Yes, Drea, she is."

"No, I'm being totally sincere because Nicholas is the best person on the planet!" said Bay. "Yes, I'm being sarcastic because the guy pied me in the face and thought it was funny!"

"Dude, I met Daphne by cherry-bombing her dorm," said Mingo. "Give him a chance! Besides, there's time for seriousness and there's time for jokes, and we all need a bit of both."

"Et tu, Mingo?" said Bay. Turning towards Daphne, she said, "Remind me again what you see in this guy?"

"Bay, that's rude!" said Daphne. "I never said anything bad to you about Travis after you started dating him, so please don't do that with me!"

"Look," said Lily, "let's all take a breather here and think this through carefully."

"I agree," said Emmett.

"Oh no you didn't just tell me to calm down!" Bay snapped.

The Switched at Birth characters continued squabbling with each other—which, of course, is nothing out of the ordinary for them. Nicholas turned towards the other Everything's Gonna Be Okay characters and shrugged.

When the bickering had finally settled down, Bay turned towards Nicholas and said, "We've talked it over, and I've decided to give you another chance. But please, no more pranks."

"Yay! You forgive me!" said Nicholas. He then pulled up YouTube on his cell phone and started playing "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang, and began dancing to it.

Bay shook her head in resignation and said, "Sometimes it's just one of those days."