Meet Again

Cochlear Implants

"Nicky's going swimming" Rory said

"It's freezing outside" Logan said

"Indoor pool"

"Got it"

After the surgery Rory and Logan were back in the hospital room. Rory was holding a very fussy Grace, snuggled up against her chest.

"She did great" Dr. Addams said "The surgery went better than we could've hoped"

"Thank you"

"She's probably in some pain at the moment. I'll give her some Tylenol and if you want you can feed her" Dr. Addams continued. She gave Grace some baby Tylenol before leaving the room so Rory could feed Grace.

——

A couple of weeks later, once things had calmed down, Rory, Logan, and the kids had Friday night dinner with Richard, Emily, Lorelai, and Luke. Nicky and Grace were both sitting on the rug, Sophie had a baby toy and Nicky was playing with magnetic building blocks.

"Mom, how's the inn?"

"The inn has not changed in 10 years" Lorelai said "how's Grace?"

"Grace is good" Rory said "you'd never know she had surgery"

"When do they get turned on?" Emily asked

"In 2 weeks" Logan said "that's when we find out if-"

"You just spent 20,000 dollars for nothing?" Lorelai interjected

"I was gonna say that we'd find out if it worked" Logan said "plus it was not 20,000 dollars"

"Less?" Richard asked

"More" Rory exhaled "a lot more...like almost 5 times that"

"100,000 dollars?!" Luke asked in disbelief

"Almost" Logan nodded

"Nicky, don't stick magnets to your sister's head" Rory said to Nicky, who was sticking his magnetic toys to Grace's head "wow, that was a weird sentence"

"It's funny" Nicky giggled

"It's not a toy, bubba" Rory said "please take the blocks off her head"

"Ok" Nicky said and took the toys off Grace's head

"How does that work?" Luke asked

"The internal processor that they implanted is magnetic. That's how it'll stick to the outer piece." Logan said

"And someone realized that this means that things could stick to her head" Rory said

"That's very cool" Richard said

"Can I try?" Lorelai asked

"Wha- no! You can't try!" Rory said "It's not a toy"

——

2 weeks later Rory, Logan, and the kids were sitting at the kitchen island, eating breakfast

"Mommy, is Grace getting her ears today?" Nicky asked

It took Rory a second to realize that Nicky had called the cochlear implants Grace's ears.

"Um...yeah" Rory chuckled softly 

"And I get to go with grandma?" Nicky asked

"No, you're gonna play with Ava and Jenny, today"

"Ok"

——

"Before we start, there are a few things you need to know" Dr. Addams said "getting used to hearing is gonna take a while. Babies develop so much between when they're born and 9 months old, and Grace did that in complete silence. She'll likely be very easily overstimulated when she's wearing the processors, especially the first couple of months. Go at her pace, take them off when she wants. Now, in a few minutes we're gonna turn them on. You two will be in the room with her and we'll be in the control room, behind the window. I'm gonna tell you when they're on, everyone is gonna be quiet, and you guys are gonna talk to her. You'll keep talking and making noise while we adjust the settings and figure out what works best. She might get startled and she might cry. That's normal"

"Ok"

"Alright then, let's get started"

After Dr. Addams and the cochlear implants technician got everything set up, Rory and Logan got the signal that the processors were turned on and they should talk.

"Hi baby!" Rory said in a soft, high pitched baby voice

Grace didn't react at all

After a few minutes of adjusting the volume and the settings Grace reacted.

"Hey" Logan said and snapped his fingers

Grace got a confused look on her face and looked around the room

Rory gasped "did she hear that?!" She asked, excitedly

"She did" Dr. Addams nodded

After a while Dr. Addams came into the room and she, Rory, and Logan kept making sounds while the technician adjusted the steering.

"She looks so confused" Rory laughed "hi baby!"

Grace turned her head to look at Rory

"She can hear us" Rory said and got a little teary eyed

"She can hear us" Logan smiled and kissed the top of Grace's head