Best For Me

Chapter 1

In a few short songs it was over and the children scattered to all edges of the playroom. Lia stood up, a slight blush tingeing her cheeks for no obvious reason, as Elly drifted off with the other children. The brunette carefully put her guitar back in its case and walked slowly over to the blonde, who was standing carefully, hands in pockets.

"Hi," the musician offered a hand, "I'm Yeji"

"Lia," Lia replied, shaking the hand. It was a good handshake, firm but not too firm, gripping but not squeezing, and no sweaty palms. She liked it. "You do this a lot?"

"Yeah," grinned the guitarist. "I'm a music therapist here. We do this once a week. It's great for the kids, and," she smiled and Lia watched it run all the way to her eyes, "I love it, too."

"You're really good," she murmured in reply.

"Aw, thanks. Your daughter seemed to like it." Yeji nodded at Elly who was now patiently building a tower out of blocks. The precarious nature of the construction was an omen of a collapse shortly to follow. "You should bring her more often."

"Yeah," said Lia softly. "Actually I don't understand why she liked it so much." Yeji looked surprised and a little insulted. Lia hurried to explain, "No, no, it's great, it's good. It's just that she can't hear it. Elly's deaf."

"Oh." The brunette understood. "That's okay, there are ways around that."

Now it was Lia's turn to look at the other girl like she was crazy.

"Um, it's music, doesn't hearing come into it somewhere?"

"Not always," grinned the other girl, sending Lia's heart into a whirl. "Come back next week, I'll show you."

"I'd like that." The blonde checked her watch. "Oh, crap, we have to go or we'll miss Elle's appointment. Hey, it was nice to meet you."

"You, too," said Yeji, smiling to herself and appreciating, with slight guilt, the ass in the jeans as it walked out the door.

Wow. Definite yummy mummy.

* * * * *

Lia pulled into the underground carpark, her heart already speeding up with expectation. This was crazy. She was crazy. No, no, she was doing this for Elly.

Then, why are your palms sweating?

Lia swore lightly when someone stole her space, grateful that her daughter couldn't hear. In a way, it was a blessing, because some of the language the girl would have picked up from Soobin by now, well... Lia told him off all the time, arguing that she could see and would eventually learn. She tried not to do it herself, although traffic sometimes got the better of her. Soobin didn't listen. Soobin never did.

Finding another space further from the door, Lia glanced at her watch for the millionth time in an hour. Early. Still. She hustled them out of the car and into the lift, smiling along with her daughter in anticipation, accepting that it was almost certainly over different things. They hit the eighth floor and were at the playroom, Lia feeling light-headed.

To her disappointment, there were only children, making a God Almighty mess. She let Elly join them, warmed by the sight of her daughter enjoying herself. She was leaning against the door frame, watching the fun, when she heard a soft, nerve-stimulating voice behind her.

"You came back."

Lia turned to find Yeji standing behind her, a large sack in one hand and a crooked smile on her face. Lia moved to let her pass through. "Yeah, you said we should."

"I'm glad." The musician moved over to a small table and put the sack down. "I've got something good today, and I think your daughter will get something out of it."

Lia's curiousity was duly piqued.

Yeji emptied out the sack one-by-one. There were big drums, little drums, a metronome, and a bunch of other things Lia recognised and didn't recognise. The guitarist clapped her hands, to the notice of all the kids except Elly, and the noise in the room died down. Lia tensed, but Yeji put her at ease, walking over amongst the children and, while calling them to attention, gently drew that of Elly by placing a hand on her shoulder. It was considerate, easy and made Lia's insides melt. Very few people bothered to treat Elly with such kindness. If they didn't ignore her, they tended to either raise their voice, which was pointless because the girl was completely deaf, or treat her like she was some kind of retarded invalid, which made Lia fume. Her daughter was a beautiful, wonderful child with an incredible mind and the overactive imagination of every other four-year-old on the planet. Even still, she knew her daughter noticed the change in other people. She had begun to see her isolation, and the gross lack of acceptance by some people around her. Lia couldn't help but warm to Yeji who, with one gesture, had done exactly the right thing.

As Yeji gathered the children around, Lia sat back on the floor. Her daughter, once again enthralled by the long-haired brunette, didn't crowd close to her mother this time, but tiptoed up with the other children. Yeji smiled.

"Today we're going to talk about rhythm -" And so she went on. Pulling over a xylophone, she neatly ran a hammer across the notes, gaining "oohs" and "aahs" from her adoring pupils.

Lia watched as she involved everyone in the music, letting them play the drums or feel the beat of the metronome. She watched as each and every time, she involved Elly, letting the girl feel the beat where the others could hear. Each time a different vibration ran through her little hands, her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Lia's heart nearly broke.

By the end of the class, she was holding back tears. She knelt down to greet Elly who flew at her, so excited that her hands were a flurry of activity as she signed her incredible experiences to Lia, in child-like ignorance of the fact that her mother had been standing there the whole time. Lia, grinning from ear to ear, watched and listened intently, signing back appropriately until her daughter got so caught up she lost her words and just dissolved into excited four-year-old giggles. Lia wrapped her in a huge hug, and sent her off to clean up the toys before they went.

Turning to face the musician, she caught the grin on the other girl's face.

"Thank you so much," Lia said, voice overflowing with gratitude. "That meant more to her than anything has in a long time." She choked up on the last word.

"It's nothing." Yeji looked down, blushing. "No-one needs to miss out on anything just because they're a little short in some areas. You should see me dance. Doesn't stop me. Does stop traffic sometimes," she mused. Lia laughed prettily, and missed the glint that shone momentarily in the musician's eye. "Have you been down to the community centre?" she asked.

"No," said Lia, looking interested. "Why?"

"They have some neat classes down there. I teach music to kids on a Wednesday afternoon after school. There's a great art class down the hall. You should check it out."

"I might do that." Lia glanced at her watch, and gave a sad sigh. "We gotta shoot. Maybe we'll see you around." She glanced at the brunette hopefully.

"Yeah, that would be nice." The softness in Yeji's voice made Lia quiver. Gathering Elly, she left before she could melt into a puddle on the playroom floor.