Page 1 of Never Quiet

Prologue

March 2012 – June 2012 (Age 13)

Amanda Corinne Lang knew what love was. She’d known it since her first memory. Her entire childhood, she’d had strong men and women around her to show her how to be the best version of herself.

She didn’t struggle with deafness like her grandmother, her aunt, or her new stepmother. She didn’t suffer without a father the way her own father did. She hadn’t grown up abused and alone like his best friends. She didn’t deal with homophobic ignorance like her honorary uncles or endure painful surgeries just to walk like their daughter.

Every day of her life, she felt love for them and felt theirs for her. She was protected, encouraged to grow, and pushed to her potential as a person in every aspect of her life.

While there had been moments of frustration, loneliness, and even anger, Mandy knew that her life was a charmed one made possible by the love that surrounded her.

She was grateful for an existence that was built from the painful experiences of the most important people to her.

It was their struggles, their suffering, and their ability to overcome them that made it possible for her to focus on her interests, her ideas, and her future. From their pain, they constructed a world of incredible beauty for her to thrive.

Her intellect matured her well beyond the thought processes of other people her age. The way her family spoke to her, treated her as an equal, helped her understand her strengths and weaknesses. They didn’t lie to her, didn’t shy from difficult topics, allowed her to formulate opinions, and trusted her judgment.

At thirteen, she knew love better than anyone.

Holding her sister, she stared into Heather’s face and shared that knowledge of love with her. The pediatrician had confirmed the day before that the two-week-old baby girl was deaf.

Upon hearing the news, Zoe looked at the doctor calmly and asked, “Otherwise, she’s healthy?” He’d nodded in surprise. “Then that’s all that matters.” She gathered up her child and kissed her tiny face all over. Meeting Mandy’s eyes over Heather’s head, Zoe’s smile was brilliant. “She’s absolutely perfect. Don’t you think?”

“Just perfect, Mom.” Mandy meant it.

Over the years, there would be obstacles in Heather’s path.

There might be attempts to isolate her the way people had attempted to isolate her grandmother Caroline, put her in a box, and make her pretend to be someone she was not.

There would probably be moments of intense frustration when she was illogically excluded the way their Aunt No-No had been in activities that had nothing to do with her ability to hear.

There would even be periods of fear, uncertainty, and embarrassment like their mother Zoe experienced when people didn’t know how to act around a person who was deaf.

There was no better family to support her, teach her, and love her. No stronger men to lift her up and make her smile whenever she felt like crying. No smarter women to remind her that she wasn’t defined by her inability to hear.

Holding Heather, Mandy decided love was an incredibly fluid emotion. It could expand forever, filling up the cracks and crevices inside a person like water. There was no finite amount that a person possessed. It was an unlimited resource to be shared endlessly.

Smoothing her fingers over the tiny head in a soft pink cap, Mandy blinked back tears. The baby’s eyes opened sleepily and she signed, “I love you, Heather.”

Snuggling her close, she laid back carefully on the couch. She was soft and warm, such a calm baby.

Mandy patted Heather’s back gently while she laid on her chest. She might not be able to hear love but with every beat of her heart under the baby’s cheek, she willed her sister to feel it.

* * *

Making the choice to not return to public school for the second half of the school year, Mandy focused on completing her online college prerequisites. At the rate she was going, she’d be done with her entire freshman year of college by the summer.

Had she wanted to, she could have tested out of high school entirely and graduated. She wanted to bond with her little sister and help her mom.

“Honey, you don’t have to do that,” Zoe told her. “There’s an excellent day care just a block from the library.”

“The problem is they don’t have any teachers who sign. I called all the daycares in town and none of them do. Grandma said I started picking up ASL before I was a year old. I can do it all day until school starts in the fall. You and Dad can reinforce it in the evenings and on weekends. Maybe it won’t be so bad. The sooner we work on speech, the better.”

“It’s a lot of responsibility. Are you sure?” Mandy nodded. “There’s no one I trust more but I don’t want you burnt out, Mandy. If you get tired, let me know. I can take Heather to work with me a couple of days a week.”

Taking care of Heather made her happy and she wasn’t exactly alone.

When William was fully back on his feet after his injury, Terrance asked if he might be of use to the family, protecting the children. Noel high-fived him and agreed immediately. The other two members of their family protective detail returned to the field and seemed glad to escape their insanely affectionate family.

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