"Ok…Thats awesome; I will let Dougie know…Thanks, Owen. I will see you at school," Mariella says before moving the cell phone out of her ear and hanging up the call with the principal…Dougie will love the news.
Mariella puts her cell phone in her hip and walks out of the kitchen to wake Dougie in his room for his third day.
The mother-son duo's home is a humble, simple, flat, tiny house in the lower-income area of the neighborhood. It has a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a garage. It may be small and not the greatest, most expensive house in the world, but it's just enough for Mariella and her pocket to keep it afloat while Dougie grows up.
Mariella reached Dougie's door and pressed a button twice, like a doorbell to send a light signal inside to let Dougie know she was coming before finally opening the door.
Dougie's all four walls of his room are painted bright green to allow him to see hand signals clearly, but other than that, it was a simple bedroom for a growing teenager with its TV with streaming services and a small bed for himself.
Mariella strolls to be next to a sleeping Dougie and puts her hand on his shoulder to move him softly. Dougie's eyes open almost immediately, and he moves them to see his mother.
"Wake up, Dougie," She whispers, even though Dougie can't hear her. "Today is a great day."
Dougie growls and gets up from his bed, showing his tired red eyes to Mariella, and she knows why
"Dougie!" She says his name with a reprimanded tone and raises her hands to communicate with him, "[Did, you, go, to sleep, late?]"
Dougie shyly smiles, understanding he got caught and nods.
"Wow," Mariella slowly shakes her head, totally disappointed. She raises her hands to ask a simple "[Why]."
"[Because, i was, texting, Bingo]" Dougie sighed back with a smile
"[Your, new, friend, from, school?]"
Dougie nods excitedly with his tail wagging rapidly.
"[Well, don't do, it, again, you, need to sleep, to, feel, good, the next, day]" Mariella signs back. "[You, go, to the, restroom, while, i, make, breakfast]."
Dougie gaily steps off his bed and walks out of his room towards the restroom, while Mariella walks towards the kitchen to make breakfast.
Mariella Killara Cavapoo was born and raised in Darwin in northern Australia, alongside two brothers, a younger sister, and a lovely pair of parents working in the fishing industry. When she graduated from High school, she moved to Sydney to study business and communications; it was there that she met a fellow male Cavapoo from Brisbane and started taking…then hanging out…then having dates…then traveling together…then getting engaged…then getting married…then having a kid together, Dougie.
When Mariella got pregnant with Dougie, she had already moved with her husband to Brisbane…a place a lot more interesting than Darwin but not as expensive as Sydney. It was the perfect combination to raise a kid.
Even before Dougie was born, the doctor immediately noticed something was wrong with him; he was not responding to any sound. The doctor tried everything, but unfortunately, they broke the news to Mariella that Dougie would come out of her lump deaf.
When the news reached the father Cavapoo, he was happy; he was willing to affront the challenge…and then he left. Mariella tried to get in contact with him when she figured he had run away…But he was long gone…
It devastated her. The guy she trusted and was willing to make the journey of parenthood pushed her into the dark swirl…even Mariella's family in Darwin still doesn't understand how…
Mariella's family contacted her and even visited her in Brisbane to take care of her. They asked the obvious, "Can you come back to Darwin so we can take care of you?" which she accepted for the sake of Dougie.
Finally, on a night in June
Dougie was born
Mariella couldn't understand the amount of joy she felt when she held Dougie for the first time.
And out of nowhere, she replaced the memories of her ex with a newfound duty for Dougie.
As the Doctors had told her, Dougie was born deaf…but that was not going to stop the new mother from taking care of him.
When Dougie was two, Mariella took the decision to return to Brisbane, following her belief that she could give him a better life in the river city. When she arrived, she started learning and teaching ASLAN to Dougie and enrolled him in a special school for kids with disabilities.
During the 11 years of raising Doguie, Mariella learned to cope with the betrayal and even found her safe space with the soft melody of the violin; deep inside her, she was glad she could raise him and make all the decisions herself.
Raising Dougie by herself…even when he was born deaf, is an experience Mariella will never regret.
When Dougie reached his final year of elementary school, Mariella had already chosen another special school where he would continue his education…But everything changed when she saw an ad for a new model of cochlear implants 'that can fix even the most severe cases of deafness.'
That made her think…About how Dougie growing is drastically different from how she was raised…
It felt…Unfair…That Dougie is growing without experiencing sound
In the following days, she felt the mental battle of deciding if it was a good idea to put Dougie through the long, heavy, life-changing surgery that could be traumatic.
The battle raged on…until the guns fell silent…to replace it with the weeping sound of a mother.
One day in the morning, when she was feeling stressed. She decided to play the violin to relieve herself while Dougie was in his classes…but when she put the violin on her shoulder and put the bow on the strings…she couldn't move it…she didn't want to move it…and broke down on her knees crying.
The guilt floored her like a dam broke down entirely. She felt she was a horrible mother for enjoying the sounds of the world while Dougie couldn't.
That night she gave up and told him about the idea of the brand new cochlear implants that he could use to hear, an idea that Dougie accepted determinately.
A year later and after Dougie's implant failure at school…The battlefield inside Mariella's mind rages on again… convincing herself that it's still a good idea for Dougie to have implants on
Dr Acosta told her that it was possible to remove the cochlear implants if necessary.
So now she was in the middle of two choices…remove the implants from Dougie or let him live with the stress of the faulty device.
Without noticing…she had just finished making egg and bacon sandwiches for Dougie, and he had just come out of the restroom to go to the kitchen.
Dougie sat in a chair at one of the rectangular ends of the table. Mariella picked up two plates with one sandwich each and put one in front of him. She reserved the other plate for herself and sat next to Dougie.
When she sits, she notices Dougie's long face looking at his sandwich and couldn't avoid asking, "[Whats, wrong, son?]."
Dougie briefly looks at his mother and then at the other empty end of the table before looking back at her to sign "[Do, you, Think, dad, will, be, proud, of, me, if, he, was, around?]."
Mariella looks down in sorrow. There were times Dougie would ask about his father, for which she always answered the best she can
"[I, believe, he will, no, matter, what, happens, me, your friends, and family, in, Darwin, are, proud, of you]"
Mariella's signaling works and a soft smile appears on Dougie's face. He looks back at his mother to signal a simple "[Thanks]" before starting to eat his sandwich
With Dougie taken care of, Mariella starts eating her sandwich to prepare for a long day ahead of her and Dougie.
Despite all the challenges the mother and son duo faced
The faulty implants are just another obstacle in a life Mariella will never change.
Sometimes, she needs to remind herself…that she feels proud of Dougie…just as she feels proud of herself.
Ok…repetition of Lila's first chapter… this is not the greatest thing ever, bunch of exposition…I wanted to send something out there…set the tone for the third day of school because…unbeknownst to you…this day is going to be the most important of the first half
I said this in Wattpad a day ago, but I am gonna try to upload something on weekends instead of whatever to create a schedule and not unalive you guys of anticipation, plus, if I finish something before the weekend, I can just review it more and publish something more solid
Write a review, favorite this story if you are liking this so far and see ya next time