Page 94 of Stone Vows

I smile as I place my plate on the table. And before he closes his door, I could swear I hear him let out a big sigh as he quietly says, “And mine.”

Chapter Forty-three

“What is that incredible smell?” Kyle asks, emerging from his bedroom almost nine hours later.

I put down the picture book I was reading to Ellie.

“Lasagna,” I tell him. “I thought you might want a home-cooked meal after eating hospital food for two days. You had all the ingredients. I hope it’s okay.”

“You don’t have to cook for me, Lexi. I don’t expect you to do anything.”

“I know you don’t. That’s why I wanted to do it.” I trace an invisible line on the couch.

He walks over and sits in the chair next to us. “Didheexpect you to?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I nod sadly. “He expected a lot of things.”

“Shit, Lex,” he says, shaking his head in anger. Then he looks guiltily at Ellie, who is watching him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t cuss in front of her.”

I raise my eyebrows at him.

“I know she can’t hear me,” he says. “But she will eventually learn to read lips, so I shouldn’t get into the habit.”

Eventually. I try to hide my smile. He thinks we’ll still be here eventually—whenever that may be.

“So, what are you doing?” He nods to the book. “Reading?”

“She loves this book about dogs and cats. I read it to her every day and teach her the signs.”

He looks into the kitchen. “How long before dinner is ready?” he asks.

“About an hour.”

“That should be long enough for my first lesson.” He gets up from his chair and joins us on the couch. “So, teach me. Teach me how to sign dog and cat.” Then he smiles at Ellie. “Mommy,” he says to her as he taps his thumb to his chin while touching my shoulder.

Him teaching Ellie ‘mommy’ has become the highlight of my day. It’s the only time I get to feel his touch. And I find myself hoping it takes her a long time to learn that particular word.

I point to the picture of the dog in the book and then I pat my hip as if calling a dog. “Dog,” I say as I sign. I point back to the picture and repeat the motion.

Then I point to the cat as I say the word and pinch my thumb and index finger together next to my cheek and bring it out like I’m teasing my whiskers straight.

Kyle points to the pictures and does the signs. Ellie likes it when he does that.

“So, give me the basics,” Kyle says. “But start me off slowly.”

“Okay,” I say, putting Ellie on the floor next to some of her toys. “ASL is kind of like shorthand writing. All the concepts are there, but not every word is signed. Signing is slower than speaking, so unnecessary words like ‘a,’ ‘an,’ and ‘the’ are not used. There are thousands of word signs, but not all words have signs. Those you fingerspell. Also, nouns tend to come before adjectives because in a visual language, it makes more sense to give details after you have an idea about the subject.”

He nods to the cover of Ellie’s book. “So, you would sign ‘dog’ ‘brown’ and ‘bark’ to say ‘the brown dog is barking’?”

I smile. “You’re a fast learner, Dr. Stone. That is exactly right.”

“Do I get a gold star from the teacher?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say, as I nod my fist up and down to sign the word.

“Another thing that’s very important in ASL is the use of facial expressions and body movements. To ask a spoken question, you would raise the pitch of your voice. Using ASL, you’ll raise your eyebrows, or widen your eyes, otherwise someone might think it’s a statement. As in‘want coffee’,” —I do the signs without any facial expression— “as opposed to‘want coffee’?”—I do the signs and raise my eyebrows. “The first time I signed it, you might thinkIwanted coffee, but the second time, you would know I was asking ifyouwanted coffee.”

“I think I got it.” He does the sign for milk and raises his eyebrows.

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