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For one of the first times in her life, Kara overslept.
The shrill noise of her alarm clock ringing alerted her to the time instead of the app on her phone meant to wake her 30 minutes earlier, and Kara yelped, jumping out of bed and throwing on a pair of boots and a blouse set. She brushed her hair as fast as she could, not bothering with makeup or her glasses. They were meant to leave in five minutes.
“Rachel?” Kara called, sprinting through the apartment to her adopted daughter’s room. “Rachel, we have to - ”
To Kara’s surprise, her daughter wasn’t in her room; the bed was neatly made, Rachel’s favourite blanket folded at the foot, and her backpack was missing. Kara scrunched her nose in confusion. Where had she gone?
“Mommy, in here,” Rachel called, and Kara dashed to the living room, where she found Rachel, watching cartoons on the TV with her backpack and lunchbox packed and ready. Kara breathed a huge sigh of relief. She should have known Rachel would stick to her routine, even if Kara wasn’t there to do her part.
“Thank you for getting ready without me, baby,” Kara said, squatting so she could see her daughter better. “I’m sorry I overslept this morning. I know we usually have breakfast together in the mornings.”
“Yeah,” Rachel said, sighing. “I didn’t like it but it’s okay.” She turned to Kara and opened her arms for a hug, a rare sight. “You’re human, too, Mommy.”
Kara couldn’t help her small smirk at that statement, and she replied, returning Rachel’s embrace, “Well, technically…”
“Shhh,” Rachel said, pouting, and released Kara from the hug. Kara immediately stepped back, giving her daughter her space as much as she could. “Let me have this.”
Kara laughed, and reached to pick up Rachel’s lunchbox as they headed for the door. “Come on, let’s get you to school.” With that, they were off, and despite the time crunch, Rachel managed to arrive on time.
~ ~ ~
Later that afternoon, when school was almost out, Kara and Lena were relaxing on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn, and Lena said: “I’ve been thinking about something, for Rachel.”
That got Kara’s attention, and she turned to face her wife of three years, to show that she was listening. “What is it?”
“It’s this new technology I’ve been working on,” Lena said, reaching for her tablet to pull up the schematics for Kara. “You know how Rachel goes nonverbal sometimes, when she’s overwhelmed?” Kara nodded. “Well, the text to speech app works great when that happens, but we’ve been developing a new robot for in-home use that responds to a child’s needs when it senses them.”
Kara’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wait, does that mean - ”
“Yes,” Lena confirmed, nodding. “For it to work, we’d have to implant a chip that the AI can read in Rachel’s arm or something.” Kara blanched, and Lena gave her an apologetic look. “I know. I’m not crazy about that part either. But I just thought it could be really helpful, you know? Sometimes it takes her some time to be able to communicate with us what she needs. With the robot, it would know what she needs before she even has to ask for it. Can you imagine that? When she’s overwhelmed, the robot could bring her a weighted blanket, a fidget toy, whatever. Some of the people in the company are even trying to program it to make meals and bathe kids and stuff like that, rather than just grabbing things. It could be the first home robot ever, if we get it right.”
“That does sound helpful,” Kara admitted, chewing on her lip in thought. “I just don’t know about connecting something like that to our daughter’s brain.”
“Neither do I,” Lena said, sighing. “That’s why I wanted to bring it up. We’ll only do it if everyone is on board, including Rachel, obviously. I think the ultimate choice should be hers. I just wanted to know if you think it’s even worth mentioning to her.”
“I think it could be,” Kara replied. “It’s really not my place to say no to this without even asking her first. If it would help her, I’m all for it. We just have to make sure she understands everything that goes with it and what she’d have to do.”
Lena nodded. “So you think we should?”
“I think it’s worth a try. If she doesn’t like the idea, then that’ll be the end of it. If she does, we can talk about it more and make a decision as a family.”
“That sounds good.”
They were silent for a few minutes, and then Lena asked, a hint of insecurity in her voice, “Do you think she’ll want it?”
“I’m not sure,” Kara admitted. She reached over and placed a hand on Lena’s calf, rubbing it comfortingly. “Whether she does or doesn’t, that means nothing in terms of how good of an invention it is. Just because our daughter might not want it doesn’t mean other kids won’t.”
Lena nodded, giving Kara a small smile. “Thanks.”
“In any case, we’ll just have to see what she thinks about it.”
As if on cue, Rachel came rushing through the door to their apartment, her face scrunched in anguish and her headphones tight against her head. Kara and Lena shared a look of alarm, but stayed where they were. Rachel would tell them, one way or another, what they should do next.
Without pausing to look at either of her mothers, Rachel hurried to her desk in the dining room and pulled up a YouTube video. One glance at her screen told Kara all she needed to know; this was Rachel’s after-school routine - watching a Stardew Valley video while she had a snack that Kara or Lena prepared for her: chocolate chip cookies and milk. Whatever was wrong, she was trying to soothe herself by sticking to her routine.
Kara got up from the couch and headed to the fridge to pull out the milk carton, while Lena headed for the chocolate chip cookies on the bar. Together they put together a small plate and a glass of milk for Rachel. Kara set the plate of cookies and the glass of milk down in front of Rachel when they were finished and backed off, giving her daughter some space to watch the Stardew Valley video and calm down. She didn’t want to hover and make Rachel’s anxiety worse.
After about 30 minutes of watching the video and eating her snack, Rachel had relaxed a little, her hands no longer clenched into fists at her sides, and her breathing slowed to a normal pace. Kara approached her, bending down to her level, and asked, “What can we do to help?”
Wordlessly, Rachel opened her arms for a hug. Kara embraced her tightly, making sure to put as much pressure on Rachel’s ribcage as she could without crushing her. Her superhuman strength sometimes made her the perfect candidate for the kind of tight hugs that Rachel needed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Kara asked, when Rachel let go of her.
Rachel nodded, and made her way to the couch, where Lena was, curling into her side. She reached in her pocket for her phone and opened the text to speech app. In a few seconds, a robotic voice said, “Weighted blanket.” Kara, needing no further instruction, ran to Rachel’s room to get the weighted blanket that was folded at the foot of her bed. Upon further inspection, she grabbed the writing tablet from her daughter’s nightstand, too, in case Rachel wanted to talk without talking. It was a feeling that, while Kara couldn’t necessarily understand, was perfectly valid, and she wanted her daughter to be comfortable.
When she returned, Rachel’s face was pressed into Lena’s chest, and her wife was rubbing comforting circles into Rachel’s back, humming quietly, Kara approached with the weighted blanket and handed it to Rachel, taking the seat beside her. She knew it was best to let Rachel arrange the blanket herself rather than try to guess how she wanted it on her lap.
When she was settled, Rachel took a deep breath, reaching for the writing tablet Kara still held. She picked up the stylus and began to scribble. Before long, Kara and Lena could see what she was telling them.
My friend said they’re moving away today. We walk home from school every day and they’re my best friend and I hate it. Between this morning and this routine being destroyed completely I don’t even know what to do. I hate this.
“Thank you for telling us,” Lena said, continuing to rub Rachel’s back soothingly. She sighed, wishing there was more she could do to comfort her daughter. “I’m sorry about your friend, baby. I know how hard that is. We’ll do whatever we can to help in the meantime, okay?” Beside her, Kara nodded in agreement.
Thanks, Rachel wrote, and tucked the weighted blanket tighter around herself.
“If it would help, we can start to set up a new routine,” Kara offered. “I can fly you from school if you want. You’ve always said how much you love flying with me. I know it isn’t the same as walking with your friend, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was late this morning too. But I’ll do whatever I can to help you establish a new routine, so you’re more comfortable after your friend has to leave.”
Rachel nodded, reaching for Kara’s hand and giving it a tight squeeze. Kara knew it was her way of saying that it was okay, that Kara was only human – not really – and it wasn’t her responsibility to control everything bad that could happen in her daughter’s life. Kara squeezed back, gratefully. If she was being honest, sometimes she did need the reminder.
“You can talk to your friend, as well,” Lena suggested. “About ways to stay connected and what new routines you can set up to replace the old ones. Something I did with a friend of mine from school was video calling, once or twice a day depending on our schedules. It helped us stay in touch all this time.”
That’s a good idea, Rachel wrote, and Kara could see a hint of a smile on her face now. She beamed at Lena over their daughter’s head.
“We’re here for you,” Lena said, smiling down at Rachel. “The whole way. We’ll help however we can, okay? All you ever need to do is ask.”
I know, Rachel wrote, and put the writing tablet on the coffee table, leaning into her mother’s side. It was clear she was done talking for now, and that was fine. Kara snuggled in close on Rachel’s other side, waiting to see if it was okay before she continued, and offered her the TV remote.
Together, as a family, they began to watch Martha Speaks, and Kara couldn’t be happier.
Over Rachel’s head, Kara and Lena shared a look that communicated all of their feelings without any words: Our daughter is everything, and we would never want to change who she is.
They could still offer the new technology to her – it would be her choice to decide on – but Kara and Lena both knew that Rachel was perfect just the way she was.