Choni One Shots pt: 2

289: The One Where Toni Is Deaf

Honestly, I don't know how to wrote a deaf character, this was the best I could do with the information I could find

CHERYL POV:

I walk into the living room. I see that Toni is watching tv. I sigh and turn off the tv. She looks at me. "I've been calling your for 10 minutes now!" I say slowly so she can read my lips. She looks at me for a second. "What?" She ask unsure if she's actually saying it correctly. "I..." I point at myself. "Need, your..." I now point at her. "Help!" I tell her. She nods. "Now?" She ask pointing at the ground. I nod. She gets up. We go upstairs and I show her the chair. She sighs. "It's broken?" She ask quietly. "Yeah, I don't know how to fix it!" I tell her. She looks at me confused. "I, don't, know, how, to, fix it." I tell her making various hand motions. She nods.

I look at Toni. I tap her shoulder. "You ok?"
I ask concerned. She looks at the rest of the house and can tell there's a lot of people. "What is this?" She ask signing. "Work, Party." I tell her. "People." She says quietly. I nod. "Do they know?" She ask pointing at her ears. I shrug. "Probably not." I say. "It's not something that comes up in conversation Toni!" I tell her. She nods. "Come on." We go into the party. It's a Christmas party so there's no raving or anything like that. I look at Toni and as she sees that it's gonna be a fairly chill night I watch her anxiety calm down a bit. She looks at me. "Go sit." I say motioning to the couch. She nods and goes over to the couch and sits down. Veronica walks over to me. "Is that her?" She ask smiling. I nod. "She seems quiet." She says quietly. "Yeah! She's doesn't really talk to people unless she has too." I tell her. "Oh! Is she autistic or something?" She ask quietly. "No, that's not how autism works." I tell her. "Wait really?" She ask confused. "Yeah, we're not having this conversation." I say before going over to Toni. "You want something to drink?" I ask her. I tap her shoulder realizing she's not paying attention. She looks at me. "Do you want something to drink?" I ask. She nods. "What?" I ask quietly. "Mhm..." Toni shrugs. "How about, we go and look?" I ask motioning to the kitchen. She nods. We get up and go into kitchen.

TONI POV:

I look at Cheryl. "Do... Wine... Water..." I look at her confused. She motions to the table with the drinks and points at each one. I grab a glass and pour some water. "You... Water?" She ask. I nod. "For now." I say probably louder than I wanted to. She nods. We walk into the living room and sit down. I feel Cheryl tap my shoulder. I look at her. "This... Veronica." I look at a woman. She says something that I really can't understand because she's talking to fast. I look at Cheryl confused.

CHERYL POV:

Toni looks at me confused. "What do you do for work?" I ask her for Veronica. She looks at Veronica. "I, work at, the register." Toni says quietly. Veronica nods. "Do you like it?" She ask quietly. "Hm?" Toni looks at Veronica confused. "Do, you, like working, there?!" Veronica ask yelling almost. "Oh!" Toni nods.

Toni sits next to me on the floor. "Hey babe." I smile. "Ape?" She ask confused. "Hey! Babe!" I repeat slowly and a bit louder so she can figure out what I'm saying. Her eyes widen. "Oh!" She smiles. She motions to her ear. "I know." I smile pulling her into a kiss. She smiles. "I love you." I sign. She smiles. "I love you." She signs back. Toni hands me a small box. "What's this?" I ask smiling. "Early Christmas Gift." She signs. I smile. "Yeah?" She nods. "Open it." She says quietly. I open it. I pull out a ring. "It's not engagement ring." She say quietly. "I know." I nod. "I, thought you'd, like it." She says slowly. She puts it on my finger. "I don't think, either of us are ready for that." She smiles. "Oh yeah!" She says quietly. "Maybe, one day." She whispers. I smile and pull her into a kiss. I rub her cheeks. "What is it like?" I ask her. "To not hear?" I add. She shrugs. "I know you used to be able to hear before." I say slowly so she can understand me. "It's like, I have noise canceling headphones on. Everything is really muffled." She signs. I nod. "I also can only hear, half of what you say, along with reading lip." She says louder then intended with a bunch of hand motions at her ears and my lips. I nod. I take her hands and play with it. "It's life." She whispers sadly. "There's not much I can do, I'm ok with that." She signs. I nod. "Dinner is ready!" Dad shouts from the kitchen. "Dinner." I tell Toni. "Yeah." I sigh. "No, now." She smiles. We get up and go into the dinning room. We sit down and have dinner. I look at dad. "I have an announcement to make." He says standing up. I look at Toni. "What?" She ask confused. "He, has and announcement." I sign for her. "I have been working on being able to talk to you with more ease." Dad tells Toni. I look at Dad. He looks at Toni and badly signs something. Toni and I look at each other. "I am a blender?" Toni ask confused. "No, you are part of our family!" Dad says. "No?" I shake my head. "You told her she's a Tv." I say quietly. "That's BSL!" Toni says quietly. "I, use ASL." She adds. "Oh! I'm sorry." Dad says sitting down. I smile.

I look at Toni as she watches Friends on the tv. I stoke her hair. She smiles at something funny. Honestly I don't find the show funny but Toni likes it, so I'll sit down and watch it with her. It's not a bad show! I just don't like the humor. But I'll sit down and watch it with her if she wants me to. You know, because if you love someone you comprise small stuff like this, because you love them. I watch one of her hands go up to reach mine. She lifts my hand and just takes it. "No hair." She whispers. I nod. She looks at me. "What's up?" I ask signing. She straddles me. "Not tonight babe." I tell her. She smiles. "Ok." She nods. "Keep watching your show." I sign. She nods and lies back down. I kiss the top of her head. "I love you." I whisper knowing she's not gonna hear it.

"What is wrong with your girlfriend?" Veronica ask walking into the break room. "Hi V! How was your weekend? Oh, it was great! How was yours? Oh! It was night Toni and I went to visit my parents since we aren't able to see them over Christmas! Oh really? That's nice!" I say sarcastically. She looks at me. I look at her. "Toni is Hard Of Hearing. She could barely hear you especially since there was a lot going on around us when you were talking to her! You were also talking at her faster than even I could process." I explain. "Oh! So she's not stupid?" I sigh. "Do you hear yourself?" I ask her. "You sound like you're trying to offend people!" I explain. She sighs. "I'm sorry." She says quietly. "Just watch what you say." I whisper. "How was your weekend?" She ask quietly. "Good! We went to visit my parents, as I said before. She got me an early gift-." She interrupts me. "You're engaged!" She says excitedly. "No, no! She did get me a cute ring though." I say smiling. "You wearing it?" She ask smiling. "No! Because she got me the wrong size, I got it on my finger but almost couldn't get it off." I tell her. "So we're getting it resized." I whisper. "Well, you know, it's the thought that counts?" She says quietly. I nod. "Yup!" I smile.

I walk into the house. "Toni! I'm home!" I yell. I hear water running. I sigh and go into the kitchen. I see Toni washing dishes. "Oh! You're actually using the sink. That's new." I say smiling. Toni looks at me. "Huh?" She ask taking out her earbuds. She can still listen to music if her earbuds are loud enough. She looks at me. "You're, washing, dishes!" I sign. She smiles and nods. "What did I tell you about listening to music around the time I get home?" I ask her, signing slowly. "I don't want to sneak up on you accidentally!" I tell her. "It's early!" She says motioning to the clock on the wall. I nod. "Right! I forgot to tell you." I realize. "I'm sorry." I apologize. She shrugs. "It ok." She says awkwardly. I pull her into a kiss. "Work, good?" She ask quietly. I nod. "Any, interesting?" She ask me. I shake my head. "No." She nods. "Ok." She smiles. I smile. "I'm gonna take a shower, if you want to join." I sign. She shakes her head. "No." I nod. "Ok." I says quietly. She kisses me. "I love you." She signs. "I love you." I sign back.