Page 7 of Hearing Little Hadley

Thank you.

Moses’ grin grew. He held out his hand for Hadley’s cards and Finn’s stomach tightened. She didn’t like for other people to hold them. Finn imagined it was a bit invasive for people to ask to touch her only way to communicate, but much to his surprise, she handed them to him with no issues.

Moses flipped through them and then stopped. He tappedYou’re welcomebefore handing them back to Hadley.

Finn’s stomach relaxed as he witnessed the adorable interaction. Moses waved bye to Hadley again and she enthusiastically waved back.

Good.

Finn studied her body language for a minute to see what she was referring to. “Yes, you did great, Peeps.”

She beamed under his praise and it hurt him so damn badly. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to have to weigh all of your social interactions in your head or to be worried you’d mess them up to begin with.

Hadley’s parents had done her a disservice in life. They’d loved her but because of their fear of her being made fun of in the media, they’d forced her to stay in the background. She could never talk until they’d practiced it first. She never went on interviews where her mother couldn’t screen the questions too. She was fed a list of rules to help her blend in. Things like “Don’tbe too loud. Cover your mouth when you giggle. Only answer yes or no questions. Don’t give the interviewers any more than a yes or no answer. Don’t flap”. Finn knew they hadn’t meant to cause her so much grief later in life, but their actions had played a huge part in why Hadley didn’t talk.

Reaching out, he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “Hadley, this is a safe place, okay? You can say whatever you want, do whatever you want and they’re not going to judge you, okay? I really want you to just be yourself these next two weeks. Give your brain a break, yeah?”

Hadley frowned but nodded. Finn knew by her body language his words had frustrated her. Deciding to give her time to process, he kissed the top of her head.

“Do you want to take a little rest?”

She frowned up at him, her face twisted enough to look like she’d bit into a lemon.

He laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.”

She shook her head.

“Okay, well, what would you like to do? We can go swimming in the indoor pool, we can walk around and check out the Ranch, we can go get something to eat.” Finn suggested.

At his suggestion to get something to eat, Hadley perked up and rubbed her belly.

“Are you hungry, Peeps?”

Hadley nodded again and rubbed her belly again.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m not doing a very good job today, am I? Let’s go get something to eat.” He had only stopped a few times on the final stretch of the trip, not wanting the weather to get worse and have them end up stranded somewhere. He had very little experience driving in snow and didn’t want to push his luck too much.

Restroom.

“Okay, go potty, baby.” Really, Hadley wore diapers. Restroom was code for she was going to change herself.

She came out of the bathroom and held out her hand and Finn took it, his heart swelling at how much trust she put in him. He knew, even though he would never be her Daddy, he was lucky to experience these tender moments with her.

“On the way back down, we can let Erika know we’re ready for our meeting with Master Derek too.”

Hadley nodded and pulled him out the door, down the hall, and to the elevator. He laughed at her excitement.

“Are you excited for food or excited to see more of the Ranch?”

Yes.

He laughed at her silliness and she stuck her tongue out at him.

They stepped into the elevator and waited for it to reach the main level. Once it did, they walked out and down to the front desk.

“Hi!” Erika chirped, meeting them with the same kind smile as earlier.

“Hello, we’re settled in and ready for our meeting with Master Derek. I think Hadley will surely perish if I don’t feed her soon, but perhaps after?”

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